Reacting to the stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebrations, in which 11 people are feared dead and over 50 injured, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia described the incident as “very unfortunate”.
“This is a negative side of popularity. People are crazy for their cricketers. The organisers should have planned it better. My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. I wish early recovery of the injured. When one organises victory celebrations of this magnitude, proper precautions, safety and security measures need to be taken. There have been some lapses somewhere,” said Saikia.
He said that after such a glorious ending to the IPL, this has been an anti-climax. There have been IPL celebrations in the past as well, like in Kolkata last year when KKR won, but nothing happened there, the BCCI Secretary added.
Saikia also cited examples of the celebrations in Mumbai following India’s T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados. “Same was the case when we won the T20 World Cup. There was a sea of humanity in Mumbai but nothing happened. Police and local authorities worked in tandem to ensure smooth conduct. I hope nothing more untoward happens. Even yesterday in Ahmedabad, during the IPL final, there were 1,20,000 people at the stadium, but BCCI has a dedicated team which had done elaborate planning in coordination with the local district administration and law enforcing authorities to ensure that safety and security of the spectators,” he said.
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