Leicester City midfielder, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi was selected among a collection of the club’s players that attended the funeral of The Foxes’ late owner in Bangkok, Thailand, footballlive.ng can report.
Although officials eventually ruled that not all players of the club could make the trip, Ndidi ended up on the roster for Sunday to attend the funeral rite for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died the previous weekend in a helicopter crash at King Power Stadium.
Vichai, 60, died last week, along with four others, when his helicopter crashed and burst into flames moments after taking off from Leicester’s pitch following a match.
His death sent shock waves through Leicester, where the charismatic Vichai had become a beloved figure in the club and the city — a feat rarely achieved by the Premier League’s foreign owners.
Sunday marked the second day of a week-long ceremony held at Wat Thepsirin, one of Bangkok’s most famous temples, which serves as the site for funerals of very important Thais.
Over the coming days Thailand’s business and political elites are expected to visit the temple to pay their respects, while monks will chant Buddhist verses over the duty-free mogul’s body.
It was under Vichai’s ownership that Leicester crafted one of the biggest fairy tales in football history by winning the 2015/16 Premier League, having started the season as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title.
On Saturday the team won away to Cardiff City, in their first match since his death, with players from both teams coming together to pay their respects before the game.
Massive banners of Thailand’s flag with “R.I.P. Vichai” were all over the stadium, and the crowd observed a minute’s of silence, with many wearing T-shirts with his picture on it, under the words “The Boss.”
After the match, 13 were selected for the trip, including the manager, Claude Puel, Ndidi, Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki, on a chartered flight to Bangkok.
Also joining them along with the club’s director of football, Jon Rudkin were team captain Wes Morgan, defenders Harry Maguire, Christian Fuchs and Ben Chiwell, midfielders James Maddison, Marc Albrighton and Andy King.
While Ndidi’s Nigerian pal, Keelchi Iheanacho was not listed, The Foxes’ goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel, who is believed to be closest of all the Leicester players to Vichai, also attended the funeral.
