DDCA responds to viral adulterated soft drink video during INDvsNAM match

On February 12, a video went viral on social media where it was found that soft drinks were being refilled from the plastic cups back to the bottles at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. That has created a massive controversy, with allegations of unhygienic practices.

 

Following that, the Delhi and District Cricket Association break the silence, saying that they are aware of all the circulations. They clarified that pouring the soft drinks from the cups to the bottles is a part of the terms and "undertaken by the authorized concessionaire for the stadium."

 

DDCA's public statement:

 

On Thursday, DDCA issued a public statement on their social media saying,

 

"We have come across a video circulating on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), alleging that a vendor was seen pouring cold drinks back into bottles during a recent match.

 

In this regard, it is clarified pouring is undertaken by authorised concessionaire for stadium, in line with the event guidelines. The concessionaire was serving Coca-Cola products in accordance with the agreed commercial arrangements and operational standards."

 

It added,

 

"We follow strict hygiene protocols at the venue. In the instance shown in the video, the vendor, while segregating wet and dry waste, poured the unused beverage back into the bottle prior to disposal as part of the waste collection process. The bottles were subsequently collected, segregated and processed in accordance with the venue’s waste management and recycling policy.

 

It is reiterated that the bottles were disposed responsibly in line with established environmental and operational guidelines."

 

 

Read also: Shayan Jahangir Urges Boost for Associate Cricket

 

What was the controversy?

 

Normally, during matches, several companies give stalls outside the ground but inside the premises. Soft drink stores often pour drinks from bottles into plastic cups to combat the mob that comes during breaks.

 

One such stall selling soft drinks was spotted when a vendor was seen pouring back the soft drinks from unattended cups to the bottles. This stirred a controversy claiming that the drinks are adulterated and might be reused for the next days. Notably, this happened during the 2026 T20 World Cup match between Namibia and the Netherlands at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

 

Notably, Delhi hosted back-to-back matches. After the Netherlands vs. Namibia, Delhi hosted the India vs Namibia match yesterday. This made Namibia suffer from consecutive defeats. On the 10th, the Netherlands defeated Namibia by 7 wickets, and then India shattered them by a huge margin of 93 runs.