New Delhi: In a heartwarming gesture, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players will train wearing jersey number 11 to honour the victims killed during the stampede last year. Also, 11 seats would be kept empty forever at the famous Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru as a mark of tribute for the tragedy which caused the death of 11 people, leaving many others injured.
On June 4 last year, chaos triggered a stampede during RCB’s maiden title celebrations at the Bengaluru stadium with 11 fans losing their lives and many others left injured. Post the tragic incident, the franchise faced a lot of criticism for the way it handled the celebrations which included lakhs of fans without the required security permission.
RCB CEO issues statement
‘The players will be wearing jersey No.11 for the practice on the game day — the practice time before the match,’ RCB CEO Rajesh Menon told reporters.
‘All the players will have jersey No.11 on their back; not for the game, but for the practice. This is a tribute to our fans, who will always remain a part of our journey,’ he said.
‘Apart from that, they will be also wearing black armbands on that day. We are also looking at having 11 permanent seats empty in Chinnaswamy Stadium. This is for the 11 fans who will be with us forever,’ he added.
7 crore invested for crowd management
Menon also confirmed that the franchise has invested nearly Rs 7 crore to enhance crowd management infrastructure in and around the stadium. This includes the installation of multiple baggage scanners and command centres and also AI-led CCTV solutions across the stadium, including inside, the concourse, and surrounding areas, powered by an AI tool called Jarvis.
Meanwhile, the defending champions will be playing their first match on March 28 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in what will the first of their five home matches at this venue.