KSCA secretary and treasurer resign after Chinnaswamy stampede

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has been rocked by high-level resignations in the wake of the tragic stampede that claimed 11 lives during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL 2025 victory celebration at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium earlier this week.
On Saturday, KSCA secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam stepped down from their posts after the horrific incident unfolded on Wednesday. The resignations come amid mounting legal scrutiny and public outrage, with both officials citing “moral responsibility” as the reason behind their decision.
In a joint statement released on Saturday, the duo said: “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 06.06.2025 to the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association.”
Their decision follows a series of legal developments. On Friday, a day after KSCA and RCB jointly approached the Karnataka High Court seeking protection in relation to FIRs filed in connection with the stampede, the court took suo motu cognisance of the incident.
Acting on a briefing from Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty, the High Court directed the state government to submit a status report by June 10. Justice S R Krishna Kumar, who presided over the hearing, granted interim protection from arrest to senior KSCA officials, contingent upon full cooperation with the ongoing police investigation.
On Friday, the Bengaluru city police arrested four people, including RCB’s marketing head, Nikhil Sosale, at Kempegowda International Airport as they were attempting to board a flight.
The other three individuals taken into custody are Sunil Mathew, Sumanth, and Kiran Kumar, all linked to event management firm DNA Entertainment Private Limited. All four were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
Sosale’s legal team has challenged the arrest, claiming it to be politically motivated and alleging that it was carried out on the orders of the Chief Minister without proper investigation. However, the court denied interim relief, choosing instead to hear the state’s argument before passing a verdict.
Meanwhile, the KSCA, in its petition, clarified the extent of its involvement in the event, distancing itself from operational responsibilities. It maintained that the cricket body had only played a limited logistical role.
“The role of the KSCA was limited to the extent of renting out the stadium premises and assisting the organiser in obtaining necessary permissions from the government and civic authorities. The entire responsibility of crowd management, ticketing, entry, security and logistics rested solely with the event organiser (RCB) and law enforcement agencies.”
The next court hearing is scheduled for June 10.
Asian champion 100m hurdler Jyothi Yarraji leads India’s 6-gold show in Taiwan Open
Taipei City, Jun 7 (PTI): Asian champion Jyothi Yarraji won the women’s 100m hurdles race with yet another impressive time as India won six gold medals in the Taiwan Open international athletics competition here on Saturday.
National record holder Yarraji clocked 12.99 seconds to pocket the gold at the Taipei Municipal Stadium, ahead of Japanese runners Asuka Terada (13.04 seconds) and Chisato Kiyoyama (13.10 seconds), who took the silver and bronze respectively.
The 25-year-old Yarraji had won gold in the Asian Championships in South Korea on May 29 with a time of 12.96 seconds. Her national record stands at 12.78 seconds.
Another national record holder, Tejas Shirse also won gold in the men’s 110m hurdles, clocking 13.52 seconds, the second fastest time of his career.
Local athletes Hsieh Yuan-kai (13.72 seconds) and Kuei-Ru Chen (13.75 seconds) won the silver and bronze respectively.
The 23-year-old Shirse’s national record stands 13.41 seconds.
India’s best 4x100m relay quartet of Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain won gold, clocking 38.75 seconds, just six-hundredth of a second outside of the national record of 38.69 seconds set by the same team at the National Relay Carnival in Chandigarh earlier this year.
But, it fell short of the timing which would have taken the team to Tokyo World Championships.
Fourteen countries have already qualified for the World Championships in September through the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China in May and only two slots are available. Nigeria and Netherlands are currently in the reckoning for the two slots with 38.20 seconds.
The Indian team of Sudheeksha Vadluri, Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli, Abinaya Rajarajan and Nithya Gandhe won gold in the women’s 4x100m relay, clocking 44.06 seconds.
The national record in this event stands at 43.37 seconds clocked by the quartet of Archana S, Dhanalakshmi, Hima Das and Dutee Chand in 2021.
Abdulla Aboobacker and Pooja also won gold in the men’s triple jump and women’s 1500m respectively.
Aboobacker jumped 16.21m, well below his personal best of 17.19m.
Pooja, who had won a silver in the Asian Championships in South Korea last month, clocked 4 minutes, 11.63 seconds to win the gold. She has a personal best of 4:09.52 which she had clocked in 2023.