Leicester City players to honour helicopter victims at Cardiff match
Written by News on 31/10/2018
Leicester players will pay tribute to victims of the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of the club’s chairman and four other people when they play Cardiff City on Saturday.
The Foxes confirmed on Tuesday they will go ahead with the Premier League match in the Welsh capital, exactly a week after the club’s Thai billionaire owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabh died in the tragedy.
Each player will wear a black armband and there will be a minute’s silence before the game.
All other Premier League matches will also observe the minute’s silence.
On Tuesday Leicester’s star striker Jamie Vardy and his wife Rebekah were among a steady stream of thousands of people arriving at the club to pay tribute to Mr Srivaddhanaprabha.
Leicester City said the book will be available each day from 8am until 10pm “for the foreseeable future”.
Those unable to visit the stadium can leave a message in an online book of condolence via the club’s website.
The five books were set up on tables at one end of the marquee in front of framed pictures of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha surrounded by flowers and candles.
Fans have continued to place flowers, replica shirts and pictures in an ever-growing shrine which now extends down one side of the stadium.
One wrote on an away shirt that Mr Srivaddhanaprabha was a “true gentleman” who “made the impossible possible”.
Another said he was “forever in our hearts”.
The Thai billionaire, 60, was among five people killed when his helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening.
He had been at the ground to see the team’s 1-1 Premier League draw with West Ham.
Leicester’s city hall and county hall will also light up in blue this week to honour Mr Srivaddhanapradha, as well as the others who died in the crash – Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, Izabela Roza Lechowicz and pilot Eric Swaffer.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is investigating the cause of Saturday’s tragedy, in which the helicopter spiralled out of control, and has recovered the aircraft’s digital flight data recorder.
Tuesday’s first team fixture against Southampton in the Carabao Cup and the development squad game against Feyenoord in the Premier League International Cup have been postponed.
The club has now confirmed that the game against Cardiff City, in Cardiff, will go ahead at the weekend.
A minute’s silence has been held at De Montfort University and at the University of Leicester to remember the victims of the crash.
Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez – a former Leicester City player – dedicated the goal he scored against Tottenham on Monday night to Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, saying: “The boss was very special to me.”
Former Leicester manager Nigel Pearson has told Sky Sports Mr Srivaddhanaprabha had “an immeasurable impact on English football” and “most definitely ensured the belief that sporting miracles can happen,” he said.
(c) Sky News 2018: Leicester City players to honour helicopter victims at Cardiff match
