20 stampedes happened in BJP-ruled states: CM Siddaramaiah in Assembly
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said 20 stampedes took place in the BJP-ruled states, and blamed "mass hysteria" for the Chinnaswamy stadium incident in June that killed 11 people.
Replying to a discussion in the Assembly on the June 4 stampede, the Chief Minister read out the list of stampedes starting from the one that occurred on August 3, 2008, at Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, when Prem Singh Dhumal was the Chief Minister, followed by the stampede in Jodhpur in 2008, which killed 250 people.
The stampedes he referred to include the one that had taken place in Ratangarh in 2013, Haridwar in 2021, Sehore in MP in 2023, and Hathras in UP in which 121 people were killed in 2024.
He also spoke about the Prayagraj stampede during Kumbh Mela in January this year that claimed the lives of 39 people. CM also talked about the Gujarat Morbi bridge collapse in 2022 in which 135 people were killed.
"Did Yogi Adityanath resign as UP CM" after Kumbh Mela stampede in Prayagraj, in which 39 people were killed, questioned Siddaramaiah.
"In my 42 years of political life, never such an incident took place. I had never seen 11 people dying in a stampede. I am pained. I expressed my sorrow the same day," the Chief Minister said.
He said people perceived RCB's victory in the IPL match as Bengaluru's pride. The mass hysteria created by it was behind the stampede.
"We sometimes have to bow to the people’s expectations in democracy. That’s the sign of democracy," Siddaramaiah said, noting that he had to attend the victory celebration of RCB.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
