Venky’s v Indian Government (a) - 13/1/2025 - Re-Arranged Challenge Match

[Mhead2]

Interesting developments are not usually in the Rovers' interests.

This morning I contacted Steve W. for more reactions/background to this.

We are THE Rovers has its next Meeting with the Club Board on the 28th September....he is on holiday at the moment.

Owners of a Company get all sorts of  their 'expenses' siphoned thru their Company or separate Companies. Whatever the Country. The Indian Government may have lots of success with their investigation.

The wider issue is that the Modri Government is now flexing its muscles as a 'non-aligned' G20 member.

There is a move to change the name of the Country to Bharat ....away from its Imperial/British imposed name...and an attack on Venkys may be part of the political manoevres. Modri comes from Gujurat Province, the origins of a high percentage of Asian heritage Blackburn citizens. The name of Bharat is of Hindu origin so it also has religious significance.

Read into all that what you want. It does give Venkys a reason to liberate the Rovers, as they are loyal Indians and have to obey the direction of travel of the new Country. Maybe take more interest in the G20 Summit....based in Delhi.....starts soon.

[jim mk2]

57 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Whatever the outcome of all this, which we are powerless to control, surely we all agree that if something dodgy or illegal has been going on with the funding of the club then that needs to be the end of Venkys?

I hope nobody is suggesting that we should desire their continued presence / input if illegal activities have been taking place?

 

Why should a minor bit of tax / business skulduggery lead to them giving up ownership of BRFC. The money involved is tiny compared to their overall wealth and I doubt if they're in the least bit bothered about reputational damage

They'll act in their usual way - silence or say as little as possible, and carry on

 

[Moptop1]

This could be about to get “interesting” for Venkeys. Are the Chickens finally coming home to roost? 

Might become interesting for the FA as well. 

Both corrupt to the core.

Be interesting to see new “drama” unfolds….

[LeftWinger]

When I did Google 'Venky's Under Investigation' I also found a link from 2018 which contained the following:

A subsidiary of the Venky's VH group (one of the biggest chicken producers in the country which supplies food outlets including McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut) bought a front page advert in the Times of India in February 2018. It did so in response to an investigation by the Bureau, showing that Venky’s sold antibiotics to farmers to make chickens fatter.

 

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

10 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

 

If the Indian government are claiming their assets for dodgy transactions to the UK, is the end in sight?

 

But what will that mean for Rovers ? The club is split in two with the training ground sale, we totally rely on funds from the owners, unless there is another Jack Walker out there - how do we avoid a Bury or Wigan scenario ? Everyone seems to be celebrating this news - I struggle to see how we can currently survive without the owners cash injections.

[tomphil]

13 minutes ago, Mhead2 said:

Interesting developments are not usually in the Rovers' interests.

This morning I contacted Steve W. for more reactions/background to this.

We are THE Rovers has its next Meeting with the Club Board on the 28th September....he is on holiday at the moment.

Owners of a Company get all sorts of  their 'expenses' siphoned thru their Company or separate Companies. Whatever the Country. The Indian Government may have lots of success with their investigation.

The wider issue is that the Modri Government is now flexing its muscles as a 'non-aligned' G20 member.

There is a move to change the name of the Country to Bharat ....away from its Imperial/British imposed name...and an attack on Venkys may be part of the political manoevres. Modri comes from Gujurat Province, the origins of a high percentage of Asian heritage Blackburn citizens. The name of Bharat is of Hindu origin so it also has religious significance.

Read into all that what you want. It does give Venkys a reason to liberate the Rovers, as they are loyal Indians and have to obey the direction of travel of the new Country. Maybe take more interest in the G20 Summit....based in Delhi.....starts soon.

No good to us if we have to liquidate assets to survive whilst it all goes on it could rumble on for years and that will break the club.

[Upside Down]

6 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

But what will that mean for Rovers ? The club is split in two with the training ground sale, we totally rely on funds from the owners, unless there is another Jack Walker out there - how do we avoid a Bury or Wigan scenario ? Everyone seems to be celebrating this news - I struggle to see how we can currently survive without the owners cash injections.

Get with reality .

Football clubs get bought left right and centre let alone one with the prestige of Rovers.

We're more likely to end up like Bury with venkys.

[lraC]

14 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

But what will that mean for Rovers ? The club is split in two with the training ground sale, we totally rely on funds from the owners, unless there is another Jack Walker out there - how do we avoid a Bury or Wigan scenario ? Everyone seems to be celebrating this news - I struggle to see how we can currently survive without the owners cash injections.

The cash injections appear to  have stopped don't they. With the CEO celebrating paying the wages and hiring a bus, then it looks to me like every month is about to become a struggle.

I hope I can pay my mortgage, bills and keep my vehicle on the road, without the need for a handout this month.

 

[Guest]

Cost the Turkish consortium £30m to buy Hull City. Rovers would be closer to 10x that cost unless the debt to the owners is wiped away. The issue isn't them potentially leaving, it's whether or not the club can get the assets such as the STC/JTC back/included in a sale and whether the debt to the owners is wiped away.

But a multi-year commitment to a £5m sponsorship suggests the owners aren't going anywhere.

[jim mk2]

11 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

Get with reality .

Football clubs get bought left right and centre let alone one with the prestige of Rovers.

We're more likely to end up like Bury with venkys.

And what "prestige" is this of which you speak?  We like to think we're a special club but then so do supporters of every club. We have an illlustrious history but I'm afraid it counts for little now.

Prospective new owners will look at the club's accounts, attendances, the wealth of the area, the prospects for growth. There's very few Jack Walkers whose heart and soul were invested in the club. 

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

13 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

Get with reality .

Football clubs get bought left right and centre let alone one with the prestige of Rovers.

We're more likely to end up like Bury with venkys.

Reality is we have a wage bill that far out weighs our income. We have a relatively small fan base, in an extremely competitive catchment area.

Though we could become yet another rich person's play thing - we struggled to sell the club while in the Premiership with a good balance sheet - far more difficult sell now.

Having said that, I pray you are right - and another Jack Walker is waiting in the wings to buy the club.

[Crimpshrine]

27 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

But what will that mean for Rovers ? The club is split in two with the training ground sale, we totally rely on funds from the owners, unless there is another Jack Walker out there - how do we avoid a Bury or Wigan scenario ? Everyone seems to be celebrating this news - I struggle to see how we can currently survive without the owners cash injections.

So what do we do? Rely on Venky's forever?

At some point they will leave and the sooner the better so that we can start to rebuild. 

[den]

Just to clarify on the money being quoted in the first article.

It gives this figure £73,96,069

It’s written using the Indian method of quoting money. If you look closely, it says £7,396,069.

That’s how we would write it. It isn’t £73m.

[Mattyblue]

If this club was in the PL now it’d have absolutely no issue in getting sold for big money. 2010 was a totally different era, TV deals have exploded in value since 2013.

[JHRover]

36 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Why should a minor bit of tax / business skulduggery lead to them giving up ownership of BRFC. The money involved is tiny compared to their overall wealth and I doubt if they're in the least bit bothered about reputational damage

They'll act in their usual way - silence or say as little as possible, and carry on

 

It depends on the scale of it. 

Why do it if only 'minor'. Usually these things are done due to the vast amounts of money at stake.

Not that this matters. Fundamentally whether it is £1 million or £100 million if illegal activity e.g. fraud or money laundering has been taking place it is a crime.

If that is found to be the case I don't see how anyone can accept the club being funded in such a way. 

It was legal proceedings that brought down the Oystons at Blackpool and I've always expected this is the only way of getting this lot out of Rovers. Fingers crossed.

[toogs]

43 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Just shows how these types work though sat on a personal fortune and cash pile they still penny pinch putting the purchase of a holiday home through the company books using borrowed money instead of just buying it outright.

Greed is good.  - Gordon Gecko. 

[tomphil]

13 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Cost the Turkish consortium £30m to buy Hull City. Rovers would be closer to 10x that cost unless the debt to the owners is wiped away. The issue isn't them potentially leaving, it's whether or not the club can get the assets such as the STC/JTC back/included in a sale and whether the debt to the owners is wiped away.

But a multi-year commitment to a £5m sponsorship suggests the owners aren't going anywhere.

That just suggest they had to get some money into the club quickly by whatever available means to avoid admin etc

You do realise a sponsorship could be included in a sale and carry over for its duration even if the club changed hands.

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

Please delete 

Why? 

[JHRover]

21 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Cost the Turkish consortium £30m to buy Hull City. Rovers would be closer to 10x that cost unless the debt to the owners is wiped away. The issue isn't them potentially leaving, it's whether or not the club can get the assets such as the STC/JTC back/included in a sale and whether the debt to the owners is wiped away.

But a multi-year commitment to a £5m sponsorship suggests the owners aren't going anywhere.

If every outgoing owner sought to recover their losses or 'debt' then no football club would ever change hands, as it would always be too expensive. If you look at what the Allam's wrote off to get rid of Hull, what Fayed wrote off to get rid of Fulham, Abramovich at Chelsea.

Those are Venkys' losses over 10 years and their tab to pick up. Why should the club or new owners have to pay them back for losses from 8,9,10 years ago?

[JHRover]

2 minutes ago, martonrover said:

Why? 

Because the club has previously got caught out instructing the Telegraph to redact certain elements of stories to make life easier for Rovers.

I was jesting because i suspect any story by the Telegraph would have to be approved and vetted by Rovers before it went public. They are in their back pockets.

[lraC]

16 minutes ago, JHRover said:

It depends on the scale of it. 

Why do it if only 'minor'. Usually these things are done due to the vast amounts of money at stake.

Not that this matters. Fundamentally whether it is £1 million or £100 million if illegal activity e.g. fraud or money laundering has been taking place it is a crime.

If that is found to be the case I don't see how anyone can accept the club being funded in such a way. 

It was legal proceedings that brought down the Oystons at Blackpool and I've always expected this is the only way of getting this lot out of Rovers. Fingers crossed.

If anyone thinks this is too small to matter, if you call HMRC and admit that you have understated your income by around £5k per year for the last 5 years, sit back and see what happens.

Tax evasion, money laundering and fraud, are all serious offences, irrespective of the amounts.

For these who are still a little unclear about what can happen to an owner of a football club, getting involved in this sort of activity, check out where the Fleetwood FC owner Andrew Piley, currently resides. 

[Crimpshrine]

I'm a little confused.

The article claims that the problem is with Venky's Overseas Ltd dating back to 2011:

The ED had initiated an investigation in connection with the illegal remittances made by the company since 2011 by its subsidiary named Venky's Overseas Limited, UK.

But VOS Ltd was only created in 2023- based in Jersey.

Venky's London limited, which directly owns Rovers, was created in 2010 but didn't post any accounts until 2011.

[booth]

30 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

If this club was in the PL now it’d have absolutely no issue in getting sold for big money. 2010 was a totally different era, TV deals have exploded in value since 2013.

Sadly the club is further away from the PL than it's ever been.

[martonrover]

10 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Because the club has previously got caught out instructing the Telegraph to redact certain elements of stories to make life easier for Rovers.

I was jesting because i suspect any story by the Telegraph would have to be approved and vetted by Rovers before it went public. They are in their back pockets.

Fair enough. I just think it’s pathetic that the local media aren’t taking a closer look at what’s going on, especially as it’s in the public domain that the funding has been cut but no straight forward explanation has been forthcoming.

Then a simple internet search provides an explanation.

[Upside Down]

44 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

And what "prestige" is this of which you speak?  We like to think we're a special club but then so do supporters of every club. We have an illlustrious history but I'm afraid it counts for little now.

Prospective new owners will look at the club's accounts, attendances, the wealth of the area, the prospects for growth. There's very few Jack Walkers whose heart and soul were invested in the club. 

Being one of only seven clubs to have won the premier league is plenty of prospect for growth. The academy, most successful town team on the world etc etc.

History does matter.

Look at the marketing that has been done down the road. Imagine what it would look like if that was done at this place.

 

Comparing our situation to Bury is absolutely cartoonishley ridiculous.