Blackburn Rovers debt up to £79.8m after FFP transfer ban

Blackburn Rovers are ninth in the Championship table

Blackburn Rovers' net debt has risen to £79.8m from £54.5m as they struggle to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

The Championship club are currently under a transfer embargo for breaching FFP regulations.

Under existing rules, clubs were permitted to lose no more than £8m in total last season, but Rovers recorded losses of £42.1m.

Indian poultry firm Venky's, who are owned by the Rao family, purchased the club for £43m in 2010.

Blackburn are in their third season in the Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in 2011-12.

"The owners know that we've been changing a lot of things around at the football club," managing director Derek Shaw told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We came down with a Premier League squad that was very well paid and it's just been too much [money] to lose - we've been unable to move enough people out.

"We have a lot of work. We could sell assets, but our owners don't want to sell assets. Our owners want us to get promoted."

By the 2015-16 season, losses at a Championship club can be no more than £5m, with a maximum of £3m funded by shareholders and clubs.

There was some good news for the Lancashire side, as turnover increased from £26.9m to £30.4m and wages decreased from £36.6m to £34.5m