Blackburn to play a friendly match in India this year: report

Indian-owned English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers are planning to play a pre-season friendly against Brazillian top side Flamengo in India this summer, reports said on Tuesday.

Blackburn, who are owned by Indian poultry giants Venky's, will play against Flamengo before the EPL side move to Hong Kong to play in the Premier League Asia Trophy later this year.

Blackburn manager Steve Kean said the plan was discussed in a meeting he had with the owners Venky's last month.

"We spoke about pre-season and we are probably going to play a game against (Brazilian side) Flamengo in India before moving on to Hong Kong for the Premier League Asia Trophy," Kean was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"We will probably do a pre-season camp in Europe and then have quite a long stint in India and Hong Kong -- it will probably be a 13 or 14-day trip. The quality of the games will be good and it will be an opportunity to globally expand the club.

"We just want to show other parts of the world that have not seen the team play, that is one of the main ideas of the owners, to expand who we are in emerging markets," he said.