We unreservedly apologise: Crown Towers after Virat Kohli’s privacy intruded

Virat Kohli 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.”

Crown Towers on October 31 issued an apology to star Indian batter Virat Kohli after his privacy was intruded on by an unidentified person in the hotel, saying that an investigation is being conducted with a third-party contractor and individual involved has been “stood and removed from the Crown account”.

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli on October 31 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”.

“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.

“Crown is conducting an investigation with the third-party contractor and will take any further steps necessary to ensure an incident of this nature does not happen again. We are also cooperating with the Indian Cricket team and the International Cricket Council to convey our apologies and will continue to work with them as we progress the investigation,” they added.

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.

“We continue to work with event hotels and security providers to ensure that this remains an isolated incident and player privacy is fully respected at all times,” added ICC.

“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.