The matches have been postponed as a mark of respect after the events of Saturday night
Football matches due to feature Leicester City Women and the club's reserve team have been postponed today after the helicopter crash outside of the King Power Stadium.
News of the postponements was confirmed by the official Leicester City Women Twitter account, as well as by their proposed opponents for Sunday's game, Manchester United Women.
https://twitter.com/lcwfc_official/status/1056455532687622144?s=21
https://twitter.com/manutdwomen/status/1056456520903352320?s=21
The helicopter crash at the King Power Stadium took place roughly an hour after the Premier League match between Leicester City and West Ham United, which ended 1-1.
The helicopter, which belonged to club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, crashed immediately after take off, before catching fire upon impact with the ground.
While there has been no official confirmation regarding who was in the helicopter at the time of the crash, a source told the BBC that Srivaddhanaprabha was ‘
on board’.
It has since been reported by Reuters that
Srivaddhanaprabha's daughter was also an occupant of the helicopter when it crashed.
Messages of support to Srivaddhanaprabha, the club and the city of Leicester have poured in as the scale of the crash has become increasingly apparent, and former Leicester winger Matt Piper echoed the sentiments of many others throughout the game when he spoke to
BBC 5 Live Breakfast.
"It is the darkest day for our football club at the minute and we are just waiting on news now and praying that everyone who did board that helicopter is all right. We only talk about the huge things that the chairman has done for the football club but, on a day-to-day basis at games, him and his son give out free pies, beers, cakes, clappers, doughnuts, T-shirts – they are a shining example to other owners of football clubs," he said.
Ex-Leicester City goalkeeper Peter Shilton was at the game last night, and revealed on Twitter on Sunday morning that both he and his wife had witnessed the crash as it happened.
He said: "Witnessed the crash @LCFC last night with my wife. Absolutely devastated and in shock our thoughts and prays [sic] are with everybody involved and Leicester City."
https://twitter.com/Peter_Shilton/status/1056469012845129728
