RCB and KSCA to unveil memorial plaque with 11 reserved seats for stampede victims
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has announced plans in March 2026 to keep exactly eleven empty seats during IPL matches as a tribute. The club, alongside the Karnataka State Cricket Association, will unveil this memorial plaque and reserved seating on June 3 or April of that year (based on text date context) at Chinnaswamy Stadium following last December's tragedy where ten people died in an unrelated stampede incident near Bangalore airport but eleven were involved as per RCB count.
Key Points
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1Royal Challengers Bengaluru will keep eleven seats empty at its home stadium in memory of fans who died last year's stampede.
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2RCB and Karnataka State Cricket Association are unveiling a memorial plaque to honor victims on June 4, the anniversary date.
Developments
Perspectives
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will keep 11 seats at M Chinnaswamy Stadium empty in memory of fans crushed during a stampede outside the stadium last year.
— (Dawn)IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Karnataka State Cricket Association are set to unveil a memorial plaque alongside 11 reserved seats for victims who died on June 4, 2025 during title celebrations at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
— (Al Jazeera English)One year after the death of eleven people in RCB's victory celebration stampede outside Bengaluru stadium last March
— (Timesnownews)The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will permanently keep eleven seats empty at their M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as a tribute to the fourteen fans who died and one injured person during last year's stampede following an IPL victory. While authorities previously deemed the venue unsafe due to structural issues, new AI-led crowd monitoring systems have been implemented ahead of its return in 2026 after no convictions were reached for those involved earlier this month.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will keep 11 seats empty at M Chinnaswamy Stadium for their upcoming match in honor of eleven fans who died during last year's stampede. The team has also strengthened crowd management with AI-guided cameras and artificial intelligence monitoring to ensure safety before the BCCI approved fixtures there again this season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will unveil an eternal tribute to eleven fans who died during June 2025's IPL celebrations at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium through a commemorative plaque, reserved seats left unsold for every match, and pre-match moments of silence with the victims' names displayed on screens as they return home
In honor of the eleven victims who died during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's maiden IPL title celebrations, KSCA is unveiling a memorial plaque near M Chinnaswamy Stadium and permanently reserving seats that will never be sold. Before each match at home ground starting with Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday in June 2025, the franchise plans to display victims' names while playing one minute of silence for remembrance.