Two top Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) officials resigned in the aftermath of the stampede at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed 11 lives.
A. Shankar and E.S. Jairam, the KSCA Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer, respectively, tendered their resignation on Saturday.
“This is to inform that due to the unforeseen and unfortunate events that have unfolded in the last two days and though our role was very limited, but owing moral responsibility, we wish to state that last night we have tendered our resignation to our respective posts as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, by way of a letter dated 6.06.2025 to the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association,” a joint statement from Shankar and Jairam read.
Former India cricketer Raghuram Bhat, who remains the KSCA president, later accepted the resignations during an emergency meeting but ruled out dissolving the rest of the managing committee.
“I called for an emergency MC meeting, as two of our members — secretary and treasurer — resigned on moral grounds. They placed a letter of resignation in front of the committee, which was accepted, after acknowledging the work they have done over the last two and half years,” said Bhat after the meeting.
Bhatt did not reveal the names of interim secretary and treasurer but MS Vinay and Manjunatha Raju are the frontrunners to the posts.
On Friday, the High Court of Karnataka restrained the police from taking any coercive steps against the three members of the KSCA managing committee, based on the FIR registered in connection with the stampede outside M. Chinnaswamy stadium.
The KSCA had submitted that it had only rented out the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL), which owns Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
In November 2022, Raghuram and the rest of the office bearers were elected unopposed. The next election is scheduled to be held later this year.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah increases ex gratia to kin of deceased to ₹25 lakh
The Karnataka Government also increased compensation for the families of the deceased to ₹25 lakh. Earlier, the Chief Minister’s Office had announced an ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh.
(With inputs from PTI)
