The year saw Indian cricket sides winning global titles, including the ICC Champions Trophy and the Women's World Cup, but off-the-field, tragic incidents became a talking point
As 2025 draws to a close, Indian sports fans will remember several highs of the national teams on the international stage, but they will not forget some moments, including the tragic stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory celebrations that claimed 11 lives outside the franchise’s home ground – M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The year saw Indian cricket sides winning global titles. The Rohit Sharma-led team clinched the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai in March, and the ICC Women’s World Cup was captured for the first time, under Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy, in November in Navi Mumbai. Also, India won the inaugural Women’s T20 World Cup for the Blind in Colombo in November.
Photos: How India celebrated Women's World Cup win
In kho kho, Indian men and women won the inaugural World Cup titles at home in January. In the World Archery Para Championships, Sheetal Devi, who was born without arms, won the title. In athletics, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra scripted history to become the first Indian to breach the 90-metre mark in javelin throw. He touched 90.23 metres at the Doha Diamond League in May. Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, 19, too had a memorable year, by becoming the first Indian to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup in July.
June 4 black day in Indian sports
However, apart from these memorable moments, there were two incidents that brought shame to India.
June 4 is a black day in Indian sports and cricket in particular. After RCB won their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, ending an 18-year-wait, by defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2025 final in Ahmedabad on June 3, a grand victory party was planned at their home venue in Bengaluru the next day.
Also read: Bengaluru stampede: Karnataka govt’s report to HC blames RCB’s ‘unilateral’ decision
RCB, one of the most-followed T20 franchise teams, announced on social media on June 4 morning that they would celebrate with the IPL trophy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Knowing this, RCB fans, across Karnataka and outside, numbering in excess of 3 lakh, converged outside the stadium. What happened after that was one of the most heart-wrenching moments the sport has seen in India.
With the Chinnaswamy Stadium’s capacity being only about 38,000, accommodating over 3 lakh fans was impossible. When an unprecedented rush was witnessed outside the stadium gates, and all trying to get inside, it led to a stampede, claiming 11 lives and injuring more than 50 people.
RCB’s triumph turned into tragedy for their fans. Then, as usual, the blame game began.
Inquiry Commission blames RCB among others
The Karnataka government held RCB, event manager DNA Networks, and the state cricket association – Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) responsible. Due to the tragedy, the Chinnaswamy Stadium was stripped of hosting matches.
Also read: Kohli breaks silence on RCB stampede tragedy: 'Your loss is part of our story now'
“The RCB Management, in association with its event management partner, DNA Networks Private Limited, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), unilaterally decided to hold the victory celebration without prior consultation with the police and without obtaining the necessary permissions or license for such celebration,” the state government said in its status report.
Later, the Karnataka government-appointed one-man (Justice John Michael D’Cunha) commission’s report too blamed KSCA, DNA, RCB, and recommended legal action against them. The report also said that the Chinnaswamy Stadium was “unsuitable and unsafe for mass gathering”.
The tragedy at the RCB event exposed the lack of proper crowd management by the authorities, and also the game’s supporters/fans not being treated properly during sporting events.
Messi event turns messy in Kolkata
If the month of June saw mismanagement of crowd leading to deaths, in December, at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, again, the authorities did not bother to respect the fans when Argentine football legend and World Cup winner Lionel Messi arrived for an event.
Also read: Chaos at Messi's event in Kolkata; organiser detained, CM orders probe
As part of his four-city ‘G.O.A.T India Tour 2025’, Messi’s event was planned in Kolkata with over 50,000 fans paying for tickets between Rs 4,000 and Rs 12,000 to witness their hero. But the event turned into chaos as VVIPs, politicians, security personnel and others swarmed around Messi, pushed him for selfies, and left no room for fans, seated in the stands, to catch a glimpse of him.
It was absolute chaos at the stadium, and angry fans at the venue started throwing water bottles and chairs onto the ground. Kolkata Police arrested six people for vandalism at the stadium.
The Messi event in Kolkata on December 13 lasted a mere 22 minutes and later the main organiser and promoter Satadru Dutta was arrested. The West Bengal government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey claimed that the mismanagement of Messi’s event will impact Bengal “for 50 years”.
“This is not a loss for just one person or any political party; it is a loss for Bengal and for the whole country. If today India bids for an international match in West Bengal, this event will act as an impediment. It is not just about today, when the event could not be held properly, its impact will be felt for 50 years in Bengal,” he said.
While India’s sporting successes need to be celebrated, it is also important for the administrators and others involved in hosting major events to make sure that the paying public is taken care of to avoid a tragedy that unfolded outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 4, and the chaotic scenes that were witnessed in Kolkata during Messi’s tour.
