King Power would be open to renaming Leicester City's stadium after Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.GETTY IMAGES
Premier League side Leicester City will reportedly consider renaming its stadium after Owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday, according to Ben Jacobs of ESPN.com. Srivaddhanaprabha's son Aiyawatt, who is the club's vice-chair, is currently in Leicester paying his respects and will hold talks with CEO Susan Whelan later this week about "how best to memorialise his father." He is also expected to take over as chair on an interim basis, according to sources. Aiyawatt, along with other senior members of the King Power Group, are in favor of renaming the King Power Stadium as the Khun Vichai Stadium. The club is also due to build a $100M training facility "that will bear his name." The complex will include a 500-seat stadium and 12 training pitches. A King Power spokesperson said, "What is important now is to give the Srivaddhanaprabha, King Power and Leicester City family time to grieve. ... The King Power Stadium is already a celebration of Khun Vichai's successful business and we would be open, with family, club and supporter consultation, to discussing a name change in Khun Vichai's honour." The fan petition to change the stadium name had more than 1,000 signatures as of Monday evening in the U.K., while the one seeking a statue had "close to 20,000." Khun Vichai's seat in the director's box "may also be left empty between now and the end of the season," with one senior King Power official suggesting it could be painted red, "to both stand out amongst a stadium full of blue and because it was Khun Vichai's lucky colour" (ESPN.com, 10/29). Leicester City's EPL match at Cardiff City this Saturday will go ahead as planned. A minute's silence will be observed before kickoff at Cardiff City Stadium and players will wear black armbands in Srivaddhanaprabha's honor (Leicester City).
PUBLIC APOLOGY: In London, Joe Middleton reported BBC Sport Editor Dan Roan apologized on Twitter after being "caught on camera claiming the former beauty queen killed alongside the Leicester City owner was his mistress." Roan was standing outside Leicester's King Power Stadium when his private conversation was "picked up by a nearby camera recording for an online live stream." Referring to Srivaddhanaprabha's personal assistant, Nusara Suknamai, Roan said, "As opposed to the mistress who died in the crash, otherwise known as member of staff, i.e. mistress ... family man ..." He added, "But that's what you do if you are a billionaire or royalty, it's relatively expected so we shouldn't judge" (DAILY MAIL, 10/29).
COMFORTING WORDS: The BBC reported a book of condolence opened at Leicester's ground. It will be in a marquee outside the club "for the foreseeable future," with an online version also available (BBC, 10/30). The PA reported Leicester's city hall and county hall will "light up in blue this week" to honor Srivaddhanapradha and the others who died in the crash (PA).
