BLACKBURN-INDIA Special: Pictures of Pune, home of Rovers' new owners
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By Nick Harris 17 January 2011 Blackburn Rovers became the first Premier League club to be owned by an Indian company when Venky's, part of the poultry conglomerate the VH Group, finalised their takeover in November. The Rao family - brothers Venkatesh and Balaji, and their sister Anuradha Desai - have been accused of knowing nothing about football, and have been dismissed as 'chicken farmers'. In large part, the negativity towards them appears to have arisen from their sacking of Sam Allardyce in December, a parting of the ways that is covered by a confidentiality agreement on both sides. In fact, the family head a group of companies with a turnover of around £1bn and rising; the group is also expanding rapidly. Reports about their wealth and their financial interests have been patchy, which is why I have just spent a week in India trying to ascertain, for the
BLACKBURN-INDIA Special: Pictures of Pune, home of Rovers' new owners
BLACKBURN-INDIA Special: Pictures of Pune…
BLACKBURN-INDIA Special: Pictures of Pune, home of Rovers' new owners
By Nick Harris 17 January 2011 Blackburn Rovers became the first Premier League club to be owned by an Indian company when Venky's, part of the poultry conglomerate the VH Group, finalised their takeover in November. The Rao family - brothers Venkatesh and Balaji, and their sister Anuradha Desai - have been accused of knowing nothing about football, and have been dismissed as 'chicken farmers'. In large part, the negativity towards them appears to have arisen from their sacking of Sam Allardyce in December, a parting of the ways that is covered by a confidentiality agreement on both sides. In fact, the family head a group of companies with a turnover of around £1bn and rising; the group is also expanding rapidly. Reports about their wealth and their financial interests have been patchy, which is why I have just spent a week in India trying to ascertain, for the