It was routine on match days at the King Power Stadium to see the helicopter belonging to Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha take off from midfield after the contest was over. On Saturday however, this routine became devastation and tragedy. The helicopter lost power and plummeted to the parking lot where it crashed and burst into flames.
The Leicester City owner was one of five lives lost in the crash, and Sunday saw respects being paid from all over the world. Not just the soccer/football/futbol world, but everywhere in sports, moments of silence were held for the Thai billionaire, Leicester City football club and the LCFC community.
After a goalless draw between Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United and Bastian Schweinsteiger’s Chicago Fire, Veljko Paunovic, manager of the Chicago Fire began his post game press conference by paying respects to the tragedy at Leicester, and to the 11 lives lost in Pittsburgh, where a white nationalist/terrorist shot up a synagogue.
“I want to express my condolences for the tragic events that happened in Pittsburgh and around the world,” said Paunovic.
“To all the people affected and their families, I also want to include the tragic event that happened in Leicester. We are all a big family and it’s obviously very hard, very tough, for everyone. Such a loss.”
As tributes for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and Leicester City football club came in from all over the world this weekend, one statement, at least in our opinion, stood out from the rest.
It came from Liverpool FC owners John Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon, because it conveyed an owner showing a sense of humility. Given the extreme wealth and tremendous power so many football club owners have these days, it is refreshing to hear an owner use some of the words that Henry, Werner and Gordon utilized.
“The admiration we have for Vichai, his family and colleagues is as high as you can imagine, both professionally and personally,” reads the statement.
“He was the ultimate custodian for the club he bought and then gracefully served. The Premier League title win, one of world football’s all-time great stories, is of course the standout achievement. But beyond that, he led his club in a manner which all of us in this privileged position aspire to. Success on the pitch, allied with outstanding governance off it.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.