Royal Challengers Bengaluru say they still want to stage next season’s home matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, yet they admit a final call hinges on clearing up “a few grey areas” around safety and liability. In the meantime the club has sounded out back-up options in Navi Mumbai and Raipur, should talks stall.
“While our desire is always to play at our home ground, in front of our ardent fans, we want to be thorough in our commitment to further understand the conditions applicable to host matches here and the measures taken to ensure fans safety protocols are met,” the franchise said in a statement. “From our preliminary conversations, there are still a few grey areas that need to be looked into, and we are considering these parameters and inputs from all stakeholders before arriving at a responsible decision for the team and our fans.”
The sticking point concerns a state-government provision that makes the match organiser legally responsible for any incident inside or around the venue. RCB would like tighter wording – or at least a clear division of duties – given that the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India and several government departments all have roles on match days.
At a press briefing this week KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad urged the franchise to pick up the phone. “Meaningful dialogue” with the authorities, he suggested, has to start from the club’s side. So far, he argued, communication has been “one-sided.”
While that back-and-forth continues, the KSCA is pressing ahead with work demanded by the home ministry after June’s tragic stampede outside the ground, when eleven supporters lost their lives during title celebrations. Prasad said all tasks on the compliance roadmap should be finished by late February.
Among the early changes: the National Cricket Academy gate is being converted into a broad concourse, allowing stewards to funnel spectators quickly into their respective stands. Digital tickets and QR codes will be accepted at every entrance, cutting down bottlenecks, and Queen’s Road – labelled a potential “danger zone” – will turn pedestrian-only on match days, subject to traffic-police clearance.
Inside the perimeter, narrow gates are being widened, separate exit lanes painted, and dedicated ambulance corridors plotted. Ramps for wheelchair users are also on the list, a point the compliance committee insisted on.
No-one in the room pretended all problems are solved. Yet both sides sounded cautiously optimistic. RCB want clarity; the KSCA believe they can provide it. Whether that happens in time for the 2026 opener remains the unanswered question.
