RCB shredded for ‘error in judgment’ during victory celebrations in Bengaluru: ‘Take a day off to just plan…’

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) triumph earlier this month after beating Punjab Kings in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Virat Kohli, the long-time RCB talisman finally got his hands on the coveted trophy. As soon as the title was won, Kohli announced that there would be a gala celebration in Bengaluru the next day as the state of Karnataka had waited long enough for the IPL win. Robin Uthappa has weighed in on the issue, saying RCB's trophy win would always be marred by the loss of lives. (PTI)

However, celebrations took a horrendous turn as a stampede occurred outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, resulting in the death of 11 RCB fans. More than 30 people were left injured. Former India batter Robin Uthappa has weighed in on the issue, saying RCB's trophy win would always be marred by the loss of lives.

After the loss of 11 lives, RCB announced INR 10 lakh for all of those families who lost someone from their household during the stampede. Following the incident, RCB's head of marketing and revenue, Nikhil Sosale was also arrested. He was then granted interim bail on June 12 but was asked to surrender his passport.

“The victory will always be marred by the loss of the lives of the people involved. It is so unfortunate that they can't even celebrate the win that they have achieved after so many years, after so much hard work,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

Also Read: BCCI to take action after 11 killed in RCB IPL celebration stampede; decision likely on…

“It is going to be marred by this, and so you got to feel sad for the fans and, of course, for the players,” he added.

'Was really angry'

Uthappa, who hails from Bengaluru, said he was really angry upon hearing about the stampede. He also joined Madan Lal and others in saying the victory celebrations could have been planned better.

Earlier, several cricket pundits stated that the victory celebrations could have been better organised and not rushed.

“I was angry for almost a day and I really delayed even putting anything out on social media because I was so angry. In a sense, we were talking about a modicum of balance during the rivalries bit right? One can understand that in the celebrations,” he stated.

"You really want people to get close to the team and celebrate with them. I certainly think it could have been better planned, maybe take a day off to just plan the whole event because the city did deserve it, to be very honest," he added.

Uthappa further stated that going forward, whenever there is an RCB game, he will be left concerned, thinking about the families who lost loved ones during the stampede.

“The sad part is now that whenever there is an RCB game, my heart shudders to think what those families will experience. It just hurts, man. It truly truly hurts,” said Uthappa.

“I just think they didn't have enough time to plan for it. In hindsight, doing it the very next day was an error in judgment,” he added.

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