Star Indian batter Virat Kohli on Monday expressed shock at the appalling video of his Perth hotel room that surfaced on social media and said he was disappointed by the “fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy.”
“I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them, and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling, and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all??” Virat posted on his Instagram account.
He also shared the video that has been circulated on Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms and said that he is “not okay with this kind of fanaticism”.
The video shared purportedly takes a tour of Virat’s room with shoes, suitcases, a visual of the room’s washroom, and some personal belongings.
At one point in the video that was titled “ King Kohli’s hotel room,” a man who is apparently filming the video opens the wardrobe where the viewer gets to see an iron box. Virat said, “I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment.”
Later in the day, Crown Towers issued an apology to star Indian batter Virat Kohli, saying that an investigation is being conducted with a third-party contractor and the individual involved has been “stood and removed from the Crown account”. “We unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident,” the hotel management said in a statement. “Crown has taken immediate steps to rectify the issue. The individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account, and the original video was swiftly removed from the social media platform,” Crown Towers was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also expressed its disappointment with the incident in a statement.
The ICC said it was “incredibly disappointed by the gross invasion of privacy” that Kohli had faced.
Notably, Virat is having a fine ICC T20 World Cup so far. d player to do so.