The state government’s report in the High Court, implicating Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the stampede, has thrown up a lot of questions. While the points made are for the courts to decide and adjudicate on, the one I wish to address is what this means for the future of RCB as a franchise based out of Bengaluru?
The state government and the franchise are now involved in a muddied court case, one that will decide which side is to be blamed for the tragedy. The relationship is bound to get even more acrimonious over time. The trophy win is now not even relevant and brand RCB has actually been tarnished for the foreseeable future. With the government asking the sternest questions of RCB and putting these points out in court – the report is a detailed 331-page tome, which took me all morning to read – how will RCB continue to operate out of Bengaluru come February-March 2026?
You need the government on your side when you host or organise IPL games. You need police permission, municipal support, logistical and other backing, without which a tournament of this scale can never be organised. Now, with relations at their lowest ebb, how do the two sides reconcile these differences and sort things out? Also, the spectre of the 11 lives lost will always be there to haunt RCB, and it will be impossible to run away from it.
We don’t know who will win the court case, or whose story will prevail. Nor are we keen on getting into the legality of it. But from our standpoint, suffice to say that relations appear to have completely broken down. The allegations in the first 40 pages of the report are a striking indictment of RCB and everything that they have done. It is also an attempt to exonerate the government, and from here on, I find it hard to believe that RCB will be able to work closely with the powers that be in Bengaluru. In fact, I don’t see the franchise finding comfort in Bengaluru any longer, and in such a scenario, the dynamics of the IPL stand to change for all time to come.
The position of RCB in Bengaluru is untenable. They are now at the very opposite end of the spectrum to the government, and there is no common meeting ground in sight. The government has blamed RCB for the stampede, and it is natural that the franchise will want to defend itself. But what this acrimony means for the future of the franchise in the city of its choice is now anyone’s guess.
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