Leicester match at Cardiff goes ahead after crash tragedy
Fixture to be played in honour of chairman Players alter flight plan to avoid ‘insensitivity’
Leicester City have confirmed their Premier League game at Cardiff will go ahead on Saturday, a week after the death in a helicopter tragedy of chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. However, the players will travel to South Wales by coach rather than flying by plane as originally planned.
The stricken Midlands club have decided to play the fixture in South Wales after “unanimous” agreement by the players, manager Claude Puel and board members including Srivaddhanaprabha’s son Aiyawatt.
Leicester’s Carabao Cup fourthround tie against Puel’s former club Southampton, which had been scheduled for last night, was postponed after the helicopter crash but the squad are ready to play this weekend.
Many of the players have already undergone personal sessions with grief counsellors after the death of the man they knew as “the Boss”.
But the players returned to light training yesterday and it is understood there is a collective determination among the squad to honour Srivaddhanaprabha, following talks in the morning.
The 60-year-old died on Saturday night, along with four others on board, and every member of the first-team squad agreed the best way to pay tribute was to play as planned. The decision was also agreed with the full backing of Aiyawatt, who is the club’s vice-chairman. It was also agreed by the players that to fly to Cardiff might appear insensitive.
The club’s statement read: “Leicester City’s fixture at Cardiff City this Saturday will go ahead as scheduled, as the club continues its tributes to its late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. A minute’s silence will be observed before kick-off at the Cardiff City Stadium and players will wear black armbands in Khun Vichai’s honour. An anouncement on the re-arrangement of the club’s EFL Cup fourthround tie against Southampton, postponed earlier this week, will be made in due course.”
Ken Choo, Cardiff ’s executive director and chief executive, said: “Following Saturday evening’s terrible events at King Power Stadium, the thoughts and feelings of Leicester City FC are at the forefront of our minds. As such, we will be offering our support to Leicester City in any way necessary in respect of this weekend’s fixture.”
Hundreds of fans again lined the outside of the ground yesterday, while striker Jamie Vardy and wife Rebekah laid a wreath in a personal tribute. Daniel Amartey, the defender who suffered a suspected broken ankle in the 1-1 draw with West Ham on Saturday, also visited the memorial on crutches after undergoing surgery. He could miss the rest of the season and learnt of the tragedy only on Sunday after coming out of hospital.
A book of condolence has been opened outside the stadium and people queued for up to an hour to write their own tributes to the club’s beloved benefactor.
Leicester’s City Hall and County Hall will also light up in blue this week to honour Srivaddhanaprabha, as well as the other victims of the crash, Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, Izabela Roza Lechowicz and pilot Eric Swaffer.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch continues to conduct its investigations as it tries to establish what caused the tragedy.
Former Leicester manager Nigel Pearson, who kick-started the Srivaddhanaprabha era by guiding the club to promotion in 2014, has written his own tribute. Pearson is currently manager of Belgian club Oh-leuven, who are also owned by Srivaddhanaprabha’s Thai duty free giant King Power. He first managed Leicester between 2008-2010 but left the club before Srivaddhanaprabha’s £39 million takeover later that year.
Pearson returned in November 2011 and guided the club to promotion to the Premier League three years later, before he was sacked in 2015. He wrote on Oh-leuven’s website: “His quiet yet authoritative aura, presence and personality have had an immeasurable influence on English football. A manager could not have wished for a better boss. I have, through both good and difficult times, been afforded an unwavering support which has been a huge motivator and, in personally difficult times, a huge comfort.
“His warmth, humour and generosity have always been extended to my own family, something for which we will all be eternally grateful for. I will miss his guidance and wisdom – and certainly his mischievous sense of humour and singular chuckle! Our thoughts, of course, must now be with Khun Vichai’s immediate family, as well as the King Power family. I will miss ‘the Boss’.”