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WILFRED NDIDI, OTHER DEVASTATED LEICESTER CITY STARS CONSOLED AS THEY PAY RESPECTS TO OWNER VICHAI SRIVADDHANAPRABHA

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Wilfred Ndidi whose goal was the last to be seen by Leicester City’s owner,  Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, on Monday joined other players overwhelmed with emotion at the King Power Stadium as they paid their respects to the billionaire owner and chairman who died in a tragic helicopter crash on Saturday night.

The 60-year-old perished alongside two other passengers and two pilots when his own helicopter spun out of control shortly after taking off from the centre circle following Leicester’s draw with West Ham.

According to Daily Mail, Leicester stars including Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel were pictured alongside Srivaddhanaprabha’s devastated son Aiyawattat at a shrine at the ground where hundreds of shirts and bouquets of flowers were left by fans in tribute to those who died.

Harry Maguire (C), Matty James (4th L), James Maddison (3rd L) and Wes Morgan (2nd L) look at the floral tributes on Monday

Foxes players were expected to pay their respects alongside Srivaddhanaprabha’s family and close friends in a private prayer service later on Monday.

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Many of the Leicester players were still inside the stadium when Srivaddhanaprabha’s helicopter came down in a car park close by. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was seen in tears outside of the ground after the huge explosion rang around the ground.

Schmeichel had just helped his Leicester City team to a 1-1 draw against West Ham in which Wilfred Ndidi scored a late equaliser. The players were due for a light training session on Sunday, but were told to stay at home with many traumatised by the tragedy.

R: Son of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Aiyawatt, Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel attend the shrine on Monday afternoon

They were also due to play at the King Power Stadium again on Tuesday in a Carabao Cup round-of-16 tie against Southampton, but the English Football League and the Saints have both agreed to postpone it in light of the crash.

Thousands of supporters have visited the club’s stadium throughout Sunday and Monday to pay respects to their much-loved chairman with many laying flowers, Leicester City shirts and scarves to create a vast shrine.

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Srivaddhanaprabha was a hugely popular figure at the club as he oversaw their rise from the Championship, the second-tier of English football, to become unlikely Premier League champions in 2016, beating 5,000-1 odds.

 

The billionaire perished with his assistant Kaveporn Punpare and Nursara Suknamai, a Thai beauty queen turned PA, when the aircraft spiralled into a ‘dead man’s curve’ when its tail rotor apparently failed.

The AW169 AgustaWestland helicopter’s hero pilot Eric Swaffer and his girlfriend co-pilot Izabela Lechowicz also died – but potentially saved hundreds of lives by crashing away from the crowds of fans still in the surrounding area.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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