Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday announced compensation for the families of 11 victims who lost their lives in a tragic stampede near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during the franchise’s maiden IPL title-winning celebrations.
“The unfortunate incident in Bengaluru yesterday has caused a lot of anguish and pain to the RCB family. As a mark of respect and a gesture of solidarity, RCB has announced a financial support of INR 10 lakh to each of the eleven families of the deceased,” read an official statement from the franchise.
“In addition, a fund called RCB Cares is also being created to support fans injured in this tragic incident. Our fans will always remain at the heart of everything that we do. We remain united in grief,” it added.
𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗿𝘂
The unfortunate incident in Bengaluru yesterday has caused a lot of anguish and pain to the RCB family. As a mark of respect and a gesture of solidarity, RCB has announced a financial… pic.twitter.com/C50WID1FEI
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) June 5, 2025
Earlier on Wednesday, RCB had found themselves at the centre of a storm after posting a celebratory video online, mere hours after the stampede that claimed mutiple lives and left several others seriously injured. The video featured jubilant scenes of the RCB team bus being showered with love and cheers from adoring fans lining the streets to welcome their IPL 2025 champions back home.
The post, which was captioned `This welcome is what pure love looks like`, was intended to capture the euphoric spirit of the homecoming. However, it was met with immediate backlash across social media platforms, with users accusing the franchise of being tone-deaf and insensitive in the wake of the devastating incident.
As criticism mounted, RCB swiftly removed the post. The timing of the video, shared while emergency services were still attending to the injured and families were grappling with the loss of their loved ones, sparked outrage among netizens, many of whom felt that the celebratory tone was grossly inappropriate given the tragedy that had just unfolded.
The disaster unfolded as fans packed the streets in large numbers to greet the newly-crowned IPL champions, who had returned victorious after a thrilling win over Punjab Kings in Tuesday night’s final. However, the atmosphere of celebration quickly descended into chaos, with endless crowds jostling for space and police attempting to control the mob using batons.
However, inside the Chinnaswamy, the show went on with players delivering speeches to acknowledge each other and the fans amid thumping music and bursting of firecrackers as well.
The scenes leading up to the tragedy reminded one of the historic welcome given to the T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad by Mumbai in July last year. However, while the sea of humanity had a gala time in Mumbai, things went haywire in the Garden City.
