The Karnataka cabinet has given the green light for the resumption of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, several months after the venue was shuttered in the wake of a deadly stampede that claimed 11 lives during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) title celebrations last June.
Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy announced that the state cabinet has granted permission to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to host IPL matches at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy stated that the recommendations of the Cunha report guided the cabinet's decision to allow IPL matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium.
"The cabinet agreed with certain conditions as per the Cunha report. He mentioned in the report a maximum of 35,000 people and other conditions. Accordingly, we have made the decision," Minister Reddy told the media.
Earlier, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara chaired a meeting with the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) President Venkatesh Prasad, the KSCA Secretary and others at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to discuss the organisation of cricket tournaments at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Talking about the cabinet’s decision, Parameshwar said, "Today evening, the Cabinet has taken a decision to permit KSCA and RCB to conduct the IPL matches in Bengaluru.”
“There are three categories of recommendations. One is what we should immediately do. The second one was a medium-term category, like gates, parking lots, the health department, ambulances and these kinds of things. The long-term one was infrastructure. For all these, on a timeline, they have given us a commitment, and the government has accepted those commitments and given them in-principle permission to conduct IPL matches," he added.