Leicester City will be playing solely to honour the memory of chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha when they face Cardiff City in the Premier League on Saturday, manager Claude Puel has revealed.
Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people tragically killed when his helicopter crashed just outside the King Power Stadium following Leicester’s 1-1 draw with West Ham last weekend, and the club’s EFL Cup tie against Southampton was postponed as the city mourned his loss.
Condolences have poured in from across the football world, and many have travelled to the King Power Stadium to lay flowers and other tributes outside the ground.
At the insistence of Vichai’s son Aiyawatt and the Leicester players, this weekend’s match against Cardiff will go ahead as planned – but Puel insisted that the result is irrelevant.
“The game is not important, the result is not important but our desire, our action, our power to give our best on the pitch, to honour our chairman – I think is the most important thing,” he said.
“The result is the second thing but I think about our condition, our focus. We will be ready but I hope we can find a good balance between conviction and emotion in this game because if we remain just on the emotion it will be difficult.
“But I am confident after seeing my players at a training session that they can give their best for a few minutes and I hope we can have this feeling just for the game.
“Before and after, we cannot forget. I think we have a responsibility to continue this way and I think all the players are ready to compete.”
Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was particularly affected by Srivaddhanaprabha’s death having been one of the first people on the scene as he left the King Power Stadium, and the Dane later posted a heartfelt message to his former chairman on Instagram.
“I don't want to give out the details of course just for Kasper, he lives this situation and he saw a lot of things,” Puel added.
“Kasper, like the other players, they all have a lot of history with the chairman and they are all devastated. After, [the crash] I saw Kasper, I think he was the only player still here after the game. It was difficult, very difficult.”
Srivaddhanaprabha’s funeral will begin in Bangkok on Saturday and could last for several days, and Puel revealed that several of his squad want to attend the service.
“I want to give players the opportunity to go if they want to but I don't know about the logistics,” he said. “But the players want to go and support Vichai's family, his wife and Top [his son].”
