Former Black Stars Coach Milovan Rajevac Among Pays Respects To Vichai

Thai footballers and all staff members of the national team paid respects to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on Monday before a campaign to defend their Southeast Asian championship.

The team went to Wat Dhepsirindrawas to bid farewell to Vichai in appreciation of his support for Thai football.

"He was an important figure who showed support for football in Thailand all along. Everybody wanted to come here to pay respects to him for the last time," Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac said.

Vichai, who also controlled the King Power duty-free shop empire, was among the five who died in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium in Leicester on Oct 27.

The Leicester City team flew to Bangkok on Sunday to bid farewell to their late chairman after a 1-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday night, which they dedicated to him.

The Thai team has been allowed by the Asean Football Federation to observe minutes of silence for him before they kick off the campaign against Timor Leste at Rajamangala National Stadium on Friday.

Thailand is in Group B, with tougher opponents like Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines waiting in the wings.

Group A consists of Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

The top two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.

After bagging the title in 2014 and 2016, the Thais are the favourites to win again.