|
NEW DELHI: The Indian owners of relegated Premier League clubBlackburn Rovers, chicken farm operators Venky's, ducked the mediaon Tuesday amid a storm of criticism of their disastrous 18-monthmanagement. British press reports slammed the absence of the Venky's family atthe club's make-or-break on Monday night clash with Wigan which sawthe club lose 1-0 and confirm their drop from England'smoney-spinning top division. Fans, who have vented their anger at Venky's and hapless managerSteve Kean all season, released a chicken onto the pitch during thegame wrapped in a Blackburn flag with a one-word message for theowners: "Out." The rain-soaked evening featured chants calling for Venky's to sellthe club. One banner held by a fan standing on the pitch after thefinal whistle decried the management and owners as "Cowboys &Indians". Arvind Chauhan, spokesman for the company based in the western cityof Pune which paid 23 million pounds (37 million dollars) for theclub in November 2010, declined to comment when contacted by AFP. Reaction in the Indian media was muted, with pundits saying Venky'shad failed to generate any excitement in their home market despiteinterest in the English Premier League (EPL) taking off. Their main promotional effort was in October last year whenBlackburn travelled to India for an exhibition match, becoming thefirst EPL team to play in the vast market of 1.2 billion people. But barely 6,000 fans turned out for the game against a local side,and the trip was noted mostly for the advertising campaign thataccompanied it showing leading players eating fried chicken in thedressing room before a game. "There was really no Indian connection with Blackburn," India'sbest-known football writer Novy Kapadia told AFP. "Venky'sownership did not help our football in any way. "I am not surprised Venky's are not popular in England. Theirbiggest mistake was to remove Sam Allardyce as manager as soon asthey took over the club." Allardyce said he was "very shocked and disappointed" after hisousting in December 2010 when the club stood in 13th position inthe league, while Manchester United boss Sir Alex Fergusondescribed the sacking as "stupid". Venkateshwara Hatcheries, better known as Venky's, was establishedin 1971 by "King of the Coop" B.V. Rao and is the flagship companyof the 290-million-dollar VH Group now run by his children out oftheir Pune base. Rao's daughter and VH Group chairwoman Anuradha J. Desai said atthe time of the takeover that owning Blackburn Rovers would helpdiversify the company, best known in India for its frozen chickennuggets and smoked chicken sausages. "Football is a global craze and as the VH Group globalises, settingup feed plants and hatcheries around the world, we believe we canbenefit from being owners of a major football club," she said. But few saw the synergies between poultry and football, or thebusiness logic for the acquisition from a relatively small companywithout the financial clout of other foreign owners such as thoseat Chelsea and Manchester City. Desai had said that $8 million would be made available to bolsterthe Blackburn squad - barely enough to sign one middling player. Jaydeep Basu, football correspondent of the Kolkata-based Telegraphnewspaper, said Blackburn's relegation had gone almost unnoticed inIndia. "Venky's never tried to promote the club in India," Basu told AFP."Forget an Indian player, they did not even hire a dressing roomattendant from here. News website FirstPost.com said that Venky's had failed to deliveron its commitments and forecast a sale of the club. - AFP/de. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as PC Phone Case Manufacturer , Waterproof Cell Phone Case Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Outer Box Phone Case today!
Related Articles -
PC Phone Case Manufacturer, Waterproof Cell Phone Case Manufacturer,
|
