PERTH: India's numero uno cricketer Virat Kohli on Monday said he was appalled at the video where a stranger appeared to have filmed inside his hotel room in Perth.
The 33-year-old batsman took to social media to slam the invader's actions, as he surreptitiously took video footage of the batsman's room with his belongings at the Crown Perth hotel, even as India prepared for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The video titled 'King Kohli's room' shows someone filming inside Kohli's room and panning the camera at his belongings inside the deserted room.
"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," Kohli wrote to his 221 million followers on Instagram. "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?? 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," said Kohli.
Meanwhile, Crown Resorts has apologised for the breach at the hotel and said immediate action had been taken. The hotel said an investigation had been launched and a contractor had been "stood down".
"We are aware of an incident involving a contractor and the privacy of a guest at Crown Perth," a Crown Resorts spokesperson said.
"We unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident. We have zero tolerance for this behaviour, and it falls well below the standards we set for our team members and contractors. Crown took immediate steps to rectify the issue, including launching an investigation and standing down the individuals involved," the spokesperson added.
The hotel authorities also said they were cooperating with the Indian Cricket team and the International Cricket Council.
The original video was supposedly removed from the social media platform swiftly.
The International Cricket Council said regarding the incident, "The ICC is incredibly disappointed by the gross invasion of privacy suffered by a member of the Indian travelling party at the Crown Perth, during their team's pre-event preparation ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022."
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