Sports
Leicester City owner, 4 others confirmed dead in helicopter accident
The owner of Leicester City FC died when his helicopter crashed outside the stadium, the club has confirmed.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, two members of his staff, the pilot and a passenger were killed when the aircraft crashed at about 20:30 BST on Saturday.
Witnesses said the helicopter just cleared the King Power Stadium before it spiralled out of control and crashed in a fireball.
Thousands of bouquets and scarves have already been left outside the ground.
Leicestershire Police said it believed the dead to be:
- Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha
- Two members of his staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare
- Pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz
Mr Swaffer had over 20 years’ flying experience as a private jet and helicopter pilot.
His career included flying helicopters for live media broadcasting including Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and the Virgin Radio traffic helicopter.
Mr Swaffer’s friend Lucie Morris-Marr said he was a “veteran in the field” and would have done all he could to prevent lives being lost in the crash.
She added that he was a “funny and vivacious” man who was in an “aviation love story” with Ms Lechowicz.
“Not many people get to work and travel with their soulmate, travelling the world going to glamorous places,” she said.
The couple were professional pilots who lived together in Camberley, Surrey. Ms Lechowicz moved to the UK from Poland in 1997.
In a statement, the Polish embassy said: “With great sadness, we received the news about the death of Izabela Lechowicz in the Leicester catastrophe.
“She was a great pilot, winner of the #Polka100 contest. It contributed to the creation of a positive image of Poland in the UK.”
Thai billionaire Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, who was married and had four children, bought Leicester City for £39m in 2010.
Under his ownership the club won the Premier League in 2016, having started the season as 5,000/1 outsiders.
In a statement, Leicester City said the club’s thoughts were with “the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss”.
The club described Mr Srivaddhanaprabha as “a man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led”.
“Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the club that is now his legacy,” it added.
A book of condolence will be opened at King Power Stadium from Tuesday morning. The team’s next fixture against Southampton in the EFL Cup, scheduled for Tuesday evening, has been postponed.
Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who witnesses said ran out of the stadium towards the crash scene, said Mr Srivaddhanaprabha had “changed football forever”.
“I cannot believe this is happening. I am so totally devastated and heartbroken,” he added.
Club captain Wes Morgan tweeted: “Absolutely heartbroken and devastated regarding the news of our chairman. A man that was loved and adored by everyone here at lcfc.”
- Excerpted from BBC report.
Sports
Robinho To Serve A 9 Year Jail Term Over Gang Rape
Former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Robinho will reportedly serve a nine-year jail sentence for gang rape – Imposed on him by an Italian court — in Brazil, judges in Brasilia has ruled.
The 40-year-old was found guilty in Italy in 2017 and according to Globo, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ), made the ruling on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
The former Premier League player, whose real name is Robson De Souza, was one of six men who were found guilty of a§§aulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.
In January 2022, the Supreme Court in Rome dismissed his final appeal against the conviction, according to the report.
Robinho claims he is innocent and has been living in Brazil for the past seven years. It came after nine of the court’s 15 ministers had voted in favour of the decision to incarcerate the footballer in Brazil.
Globo also claims that the ex-footballer, who also spent time at AC Milan and Real Madrid, will now be arrested in Santos, where he currently resides.
Robinho, who was 28 and was playing for AC Milan at the time, admitted during his appeal to having ‘contact’ with the woman, but the Brazilian insisted it was consensual.
The Milan Court of Appeals found Robinho had ‘belittled’ and ‘br¥tally h¥miliated’ the victim as it upheld his original sentence in December 2020.
Intercepted phone calls between the Brazilian and those allegedly involved in the assault were used as key evidence in his initial conviction.
Sports
Former Tennis Champion, Tania Okpala Returns To Tennis After Rehabilitation
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has revealed that former tennis champion, Tania Okpala, has resumed playing on the courts.
This development follows Soludo’s assurance that she would undergo rehabilitation after a video surfaced online showing her in distress on the streets of Awka, pleading for assistance.
In an update on his social media handle on Thursday, Soludo expressed his satisfaction with Okpala’s return, stating, “Tania Okpala is back on the courts!
“A few months ago, social media was flooded with a viral video showing Ms. Tania in a distressing state on the streets of Awka. I am pleased to report that we have successfully restored Tania to her winning ways.”
Okpala, who hails from Anambra and has a Belarusian mother, represented Nigeria in the 1990s.
Here are pictures of her in the tennis court.
Sports
AFCON: Victor Osimhen Now Cleared To Join The Other Super Eagles Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Game
Good News has it that Victor Osimhen has finally joined the Super Eagles Nigeria team in Bouake, Ivory Coast.
He has been given the clear from the medical team on the abdominal discomfort issue. Earlier it was reported that the player could not join the rest of the team who flew to Ivory Coast ahead of Tomorrow’s football match against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
He’s fully fit and ready to play in the Semifinals against South Africa tomorrow.
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