New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI): The BCCI Apex Council on Saturday formed a three-member committee headed by its secretary Devajit Saikia to formulate guidelines aimed at preventing incidents like the recent Bengaluru stampede during the victory celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Apart from Saikia, the Board’s vice-president Rajeev Shukla and treasurer Prabhtej Singh Bhatia are the other members of the committee which will formulate the guidelines within 15 days.

“In light of the incident that occurred during the victory celebrations in Bengaluru, the Apex Council has decided to constitute a committee to formulate comprehensive guidelines aimed at preventing such occurrences in the future,” the BCCI said in a media statement.

On June 4, 11 fans died and 56 others injured due to the stampede as nearly 2.5 lakh people thronged the city centre near M Chinnaswamy stadium to take part in a fan engagement programme organised by RCB.

The Karnataka High Court had also formed a single judge (retired) commission to probe into the matter as FIRs have been registered against RCB and the state cricket association.

The council members also expressed “profound grief” over the recent tragic air crash in Ahmedabad which led to the death of 270 passengers, besides paying homage to the victims of the Bengaluru stampede.

The council also decided to establish a Working Group comprising five 'Umpire Coaches' to oversee the development of umpires and enhance their on-field performance.

“These five ‘Umpire Coaches’ must possess international umpiring experience and have served as former umpires,” the release said.

Similarly, the Board also decided to constitute a Working Group of three match referees for monitoring the development of referees and providing them with opportunities to improve their performance in matches.

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Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.

“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.

Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.

“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”

The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.

On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.

Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.

“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.

Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.

“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”

Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.