Leicester City players will attend the funeral of their owner in Thailand

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Players and officials from Leicester City must travel to Thailand to attend the funeral of the owner of the club who died in a helicopter accident.

The funeral of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha began Saturday in a temple in Bangkok with Buddhist bath rituals and will be followed by recitation ceremonies.

The club beat Cardiff 1-0 earlier in the first match since Mr. Vichai's death.

The players came out of the tunnel to warm up and wore t-shirts with a picture of Mr. Vichai.

Before the kickoff, they observed a minute of silence with the staff and fans of Leicester City.

Mr. Vichai died with two of his staff members, the pilot and a passenger, when the helicopter crashed moments after taking off from King Power Stadium on October 27th.

His funeral began with a bathing ceremony and will be followed by recitation ceremonies for seven days.

The ceremony was held in camera. A special funeral urn and a five-level umbrella reflecting high status were used.

Guests included Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, the head of the Thai women's football team and the president of the Thai Football Association.

Mr. Vichai's body arrived in Thailand on Friday before the funeral.

At the scene

By Jonathan Head, BBC correspondent in Southeast Asia, Bangkok

The beginning of these long funerals contrasted vividly with the emotion scenes experienced at the Leicester City stadium.

It began with a majestic bathing ceremony for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's body in a royal temple in Bangkok, in the presence of his family and some political and commercial figures.

They poured holy water offered by King Maha Vajiralongkorn on flowers adorning the coffin, bearing the initials VS and the simple words "possible man", reflecting his commercial and sporting success.

These Buddhist funerals perform an important religious function for the deceased, with rituals such as the nocturnal chants of monks who accumulate merits for him. But it also fulfills a social function, affirming the status it has acquired, notably by obtaining royal sponsorship.

In Thailand, Mr. Vichai had a completely different image from what he had in Britain, a clever, private entrepreneur who cultivated powerful relationships to overcome the difficulties of his lucrative monopoly duty free, thanks to which he became very rich very quickly.

The affection and recognition expressed here are so little visible in Britain. But when the Leicester City team arrives in Thailand to attend the funeral, Thais will be reminded of just how unlikely this hero was for football fans on the other side of the world.

Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, driver Eric Swaffer and his partner, Izabela Roza Lechowicz, also died in the crash last Saturday.

The wreckage of the helicopter was removed from outside the stadium on Friday.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Directorate (AAIB) has begun to examine parts of the aircraft and the flight recorder.

All games this weekend in the Premier League will be preceded by a minute of silence or applause and players will wear a black armband.

When Leicester fans arrived at King Power Stadium before going to the game in Cardiff, the club offered them a free breakfast.