The Premier League have confirmed Leicester’s match against Cardiff on Saturday will go ahead following consultation with the club.
The match will go ahead as planned in Cardiff, with a minute’s silence before kickoff and players wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people who were killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday.
Leicester’s players spent Monday and Tuesday attending commemorative events to pay tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha, the club’s popular Thai owner whose helicopter spiralled out of control as it left the King Power Stadium following a Premier League game against West Ham on Saturday.
Former Leicester managers Claudio Ranieri and Nigel Pearson joined the voices of condolence for Srivaddhanaprabha.
Ranieri, whom Srivaddhanaprabha brought in as Leicester coach in 2015, led them in their sensational run to the Premier League title the next year, defying odds of 5,000-1.
“I was terribly shaken by the news. He was a good man and always had a positive word for everyone. His positivity and ability to make everybody love him was clear for all to see. He came into the locker room only to dispense kind words, never to reproach you,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.
“Everything he touched became better,” he said, adding: “I immediately thought he was a positive person, full of energy.”
The Italian coach had taken over from Nigel Pearson, who managed the club in two spells, from 2008 to ’10 and then from 2011 following Srivaddhanaprabha’s takeover the previous year.
Pearson is credited with saving Leicester from relegation in 2014-15, his side winning seven of their last eight matches, before he was sacked after disagreements with the board.
Pearson was full of praise for Srivaddhanaprabha’s contribution to Leicester’s fairy tale.
“The leadership and managerial processes he instilled and encouraged within Leicester City over a sustained period of time has borne fruit in such a way that people throughout the world witnessed the impossible by seeing a club win the Premier League in the most incredible circumstances,” Pearson said.
“This most definitely ensured the belief that sporting miracles can happen … On a personal level, a manager could not have wished for a better boss.
“I’m sure the wider football world will offer some solace for his loved ones. I will miss ‘The Boss.’”
Pearson’s new club, OH Leuven, where Srivaddhanaprabha also acted as chairman, announced they had postponed Wednesday’s fixture against Lommel in the Belgium second division.
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