Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha: Leicester City players Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel lead tributes to chairman

The football family is united in grief for Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, with players, pundits and clubs posting their tributes on social media.

The club confirmed that their owner was one of five people to die in a helicopter crash following the side’s 1-1 English Premier League draw with West Ham United at King Power Stadium on Saturday night.

Current and former Leicester City players have led tributes to the Thai billionaire with Jamie Vardy, who top scored for the side when they won the Premier League title against the odds in 2016, called Vichai “the soul of Leicester City Football Club” and a “legend”.

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was known to be close to the chairman and witnessed the crash at the stadium, posted a heartfelt tribute on his Instagram and Twitter.

Schmeichel wrote that Srivaddhanaprabha “changed football” and pointing to his charity work and donations to the city’s hospitals that “will never be forgotten”.

Wes Morgan, who captained the Foxes to the Premier League title, wrote that the chairman was “loved and adored by everyone” at the club and that he was “absolutely heartbroken”.

Harry Maguire who joined Leicester in 2017, wrote on Twitter that he would “never forget the Chairman’s support not only during my time at LCFC but also during the World Cup”.

Chien Lee, one of the co-owners of English Championship side Barnsley, called Srivaddhanaprabha“a great man”, while fellow Premier League owners such as Liverpool’s John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon issued a statement.

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Leicester’s fellow Premier League football clubs posted their own tributes as did lower league sides such as Swansea City. They were joined by teams from around the world, among them Roma and Mexican side Tigres.

Leicester City soccer club confirms chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha died in helicopter crash

Players from other Premier League sides paid their own tribute, with Liverpool forward Mo Salah declaring it “a truly sad day for football”.

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Former Leicester City striker Gary Lineker said how it was the most difficult Match of the Day he had ever hosted and called it “a terrible tragedy”.