NEW DELHI: The Indian owners of English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers say they are planning to start a club and feeder academy in the western Indian city of Pune.
“We are getting an academy and a stadium in Pune,” the Pune-based poultry giant Venky’s director B Balaji Rao was quoted as saying on Friday, adding it “will be ready in a year and a half or two years.”
Rao said the club will be known as Blackburn Rovers FC Pune and intended to play in India’s professional I-League.
“We are looking to launch a team based around players from the academy. The academy will be run exactly like the Blackburn academy, with trainees starting when they are in the 11-12 age group, and train under coaches from Blackburn,” he said.
Blackburn is also planning an exhibition match against a local team in Pune on July 22 and will field its top players like Chris Samba, Paul Robinson, Martin Olsson and Ryan Nelsen for different teams in a local tournament on July 23.
Asked about Blackburn’s potential transfer targets for the season, Rao did not want to comment on any names.
“We’re looking for a good striker and a good midfielder,” he said. (Agencies)
