Fans, press and sports fans in India show their fury towards the Blackburn Rovers owners.
Venky’s owners Venkatesh and Balaji Rao have been under fire since Blackburn Rovers were relegated from the Premier League.
The Rovers lost 1-0 to Wigan Athletic, causing fans to blame manager Steve Kean and the Indian poultry company owners.
The pair, who run Pune-based chicken company Venky’s, have been attacked by fans since they took over the club in November 2010.
The owners have been criticised for having a very poor grasp on the realities of football, as well as their far-fetched promises of signing big names like David Beckham andBrazil’s Ronaldinho.
They also promised that Blackburn Rovers would compete for the Champions League, drawing mockery from fans and critics alike.
The Rovers loss was given a more humiliating twist when a chicken was released onto the field, clad in the Blackburn team colours with the sign ‘Out’ on it’s front.
The stunt was not as ugly as the fans reaction, with many invading the pitch and some reportedly throwing tennis balls at Kean.
The Rao brother’s absence from the match also drew critism from the press.
“If there is a blueprint for how not to run a football club, it will surely come embossed with the Venky’s logo,” wrote Mark Ogden in the Daily Telegraph, while the Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel wrote, “Kean will take the brunt of the criticism, but his absentee employers are the real culprits here.”
“The most depressing message here — beyond the oaths and excesses heaped on a man for failure — is the utter powerlessness of supporters when faced with distant owners who refuse to engage.”
Venkatesh and Balaji Rao’s failure to reviveBlackburnhas not drawn any sympathies from Indian sports fans at home.
Abhishek Iyer, a third year student at a premier engineering institute in Rajasthan told the Times of India.
“I don’t care about them – didn’t like them as a team much and (having) Indian owners don’t change that. Reasonably satisfied they’re gone.”
All India Football Federation (AIFF) Vice President Subrata Dutta also agreed, telling the publication that the brothers have failed to invest in football in their home soil.
“Venky’s has not invested in Indian football… Apart from one exhibition match between Pune FC and the club, Blackburn Rovers has in no way contributed for Indian football. So we are not bothered about their relegation.”
