Blackburn Rovers executive’s letter lifts lid on Venky’s ownership

Blackburn Rovers executive’s letter lifts lid on Venky’s ownership

Paul Hunt calls for Anuradha Desai to be fired. Kean, Steve
Relegated Rovers fear a financial disaster, according to a letter.
Go here to read the entire letter.

After an extraordinary letter from the club’s deputy chief executive surfaced, exposing the dysfunctional relationship

between the owners and the club’s board and urging the owners to fire Steve Kean as manager and pay off a £10

million debt to avoid the threat of administration, Venky’s contentious reign at relegated Blackburn Rovers came

under renewed scrutiny.

The ominous warning that Blackburn is headed for relegation under Kean—a conclusion confirmed by Wigan

Athletic’s loss on Monday night—and that they could face foreclosure by the banks or HMRC is contained in a letter

dated December 21, 2011, written by Paul Hunt, the deputy chief executive, to Anuradha Desai, the co-owner of the

Rovers. If Rovers went into administration, Hunt feared he and his fellow directors may lose their houses.

Venky’s have since settled their entire overdraft with Barclays and have no outstanding debt with that bank but failed

to heed much of Hunt’s advice. The former commercial director at Leicester City has led the executive team at Ewood

Park since June 2011 following the departures of the long-serving former chairman John Williams and managing

director Tom Finn.

unt’s letter outlines the extent of the distance and disharmony between the India-based owners and the executive

team at Ewood Park and illustrates why Rovers supporters have been so vociferous in their protests against the

poultry giant and the manager Kean. The letter was revealed on Tuesday on the website sportingintelligence.com.

In a 10-point plan proposing “significant changes to save the club, perhaps from relegation but also perhaps from

administration”, Hunt requests:

 His promotion to CEO to avoid confusing staff, supporters and media, including a modest increase in salary. “I am

currently the lowest paid senior club official in the Premier League,” he writes.

 A £10m loan from Venky’s as Barclays are “very quickly losing patience as we cannot give answers”. He also states:

“The position with the finances is a cause for grave concern. Auditors KPMG have put as many obstacles as they can

in the way of signing off the accounts due to their concerns.” Money is also required in January 2012 to pay players’

wages.

 A change of manager who, Hunt claims, has lost the crowd and the dressing room. The letter is dated the day after

Blackburn’s 2-1 home defeat by fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers when supporters’ criticism of Kean reached its

height.

 That the executive team at Blackburn receive authority to run the club and greater trust from the owners in India.

“With our fiduciary responsibilities as directors, if the club goes under, the directors (including Vineeth [Rao],

Mahesh [Gupta] and Gandhi Babu) are all potentially personally liable for that failing and the courts could take our

houses from us. My family do not deserve this.”

 An end to public statements being issued by Venky’s in India and not from Blackburn.

 Regular visits to meet the owners in India. Six months after his appointment as deputy CEO, Hunt reveals, he has

not met Desai.

 At least one representative of Venky’s turn up for “at least a quarter of games”. The Indian owners have rarely been

seen at Ewood Park in the past 12 months and were absent when Blackburn’s relegation was confirmed against

Wigan.

 Responsibility to “hire and fire staff”, naming a club executive who Hunt says “is against the owners and spreads the

word wherever he can”.

 Action be taken to prevent the club “losing sponsors and suppliers”. Hunt claims an £800,000 a year contract with

Umbro is in jeopardy due to the manufacture of Rovers shirts in India and that “the Blackburn Rovers and Venky’s

brands are both suffering terribly”.

The Guardian has not received a response from Hunt or Venky’s on the contents of the letter.

The Walker family trust sold Rovers to Venky’s for £44 million in November 2010, and since then, the team’s

fortunes have taken a nosedive. Monday’s loss means that Rovers will be relegated from the Premier League for the

first time in 11 years. Despite the evidence of a poor campaign, including seven losses in the last eight games and

widespread protests against his rule from Rovers’ suffering supporters, Kean denied calls for his resignation after the

loss and insisted he still had Venky’s support and could oversee immediate promotion the following season.

Kean, a customer of SEM Sports, who counselled Venky’s on its acquisition, refused to place the blame for relegation

on the owners. Despite defending the exits of Ryan Nelsen, Chris Samba, and Jason Roberts, he instead urged them

to make sure the majority of the Blackburn team is retained for the upcoming campaign and is bolstered by “one or

two experienced players.” In an effort to avoid giving the former Real Madrid defender an automatic 12-month

contract extension, Michel Salgado has not played this season.

At best, the manager’s plans for reconstruction seem hopeful. The fates of Steven Nzonzi, Gaël Givet, Paul Robinson,

and others are uncertain, while Junior Hoilett, whose contract expires this summer, has been linked to both Arsenal

and Bayern Munich.

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