UK: Leicester City chairman confirmed dead

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Leicester City Football Club has confirmed its chairman died in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium on Saturday night.

“It is with the deepest regret and a collective broken heart that we confirm our Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside King Power Stadium,” a statement from the Premier League club said Sunday.

“None of the five people on-board survived,” it said.

The crash happened after a home game against West Ham.

“The primary thoughts of everyone at the Club are with the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss,” Leicester City said.

The club said “the world has lost a great man.”

“A man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led,” it added.

“Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the Club that is now his legacy.”

Srivaddhanaprabha, a Thai businessman, bought the club for £39 million ($50 million) in 2010. Leicester City won the title in 2016 after returning to the premiership in 2014 under Srivaddhanaprabha.