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Marti Cifuentes reacts amid statement issued explaining Leicester fans’ boycott protest

Marti Cifuentes reacts amid a statement which has been issued explaining Leicester fans’ boycott protest for the West Brom fixture.

On boycott, he told BBC Radio Leicester Sport: “First of all, I would say to the fans who came that I appreciate it because it was a very cold night and to come here hopefully they got the reward in the last minute goal and they can go home happy.”

“But I have just full respect for all the fans and hopefully we can produce much better performances and better results so they feel encouraged to come.”

King Power Out (@Top_sell_up) tweeted before the game: “A CALL TO BOYCOTT the West Bromwich Albion game later this evening for Leicester City fans. #kingpowerout”

REASONS TO BOYCOTT vs West Brom

A growing number of fans believe the club is being poorly run, that supporter concerns are routinely ignored and that meaningful change only comes when pressure becomes impossible to dismiss. Attendance has been treated as a given, not a sign of confidence.

This is about standards, accountability, and the long-term health of Leicester City.
A single match boycott won’t fix structural problems, but a visibly reduced crowd cannot be dismissed. For many supporters, the West Brom game is the moment to send a message.

The financial record

Leicester City’s published accounts show losses of £92.5M in 2021-22 and £89.7 million in 2022-23 — more than £180M across two seasons — despite major player sales in the same period, including Wesley Fofana and James Maddison.

Under Premier League PSR rules, clubs are permitted losses of £105M across a three-year cycle. Leicester exceeded that threshold and were charged, with the case later dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.

The club pointed to the absence of European football, revealing a deeper problem: European qualification had been treated as an expectation within financial planning.

These figures reflect years of decisions, not a single mistake.

Leadership and accountability

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has been involved with Leicester City since 2010 and was a director during the period when the club was run under his father, Vichai, witnessing first-hand how strong leadership, clear delegation and effective challenge at board level delivered sustained success.

Given that experience, the current situation cannot be explained by unfamiliarity with football or with this club. Senior executives have remained in place despite repeated failures in financial control, recruitment, and long-term planning, while the owner is rarely present and has not put in place a strong, independent leadership structure to operate in his absence.

Decision-making has become slow, reactive and insular, pointing to a breakdown in oversight at the top of the club.

Vichai’s era and the current chairmanship

Our rise and greatest achievements came under Vichai as owner and chairman, when standards were clearly set, challenge was welcomed, and governance was tighter.

Since 2018-19, with Aiyawatt as chairman in his own right, the record has deteriorated sharply. This includes record financial losses, PSR breaches, two relegations, declining recruitment outcomes, nearly £200 million in losses across two seasons and a growing disconnect with supporters.

If a new owner, without legacy goodwill, had overseen this, scrutiny would have been immediate and severe.
Respect for the past should not prevent honest judgment of the present.

Treatment of supporters

Operational decisions have increasingly been taken with limited regard for supporter feedback. The introduction of digital-only ticketing is the clearest example, pushed through despite surveys showing strong opposition and concerns over access, reliability, and flexibility.

Away ticket procedures remain poorly designed despite being described as under review for years, while ticket prices and membership costs continue to rise.

At the same time, the matchday experience, retail operation, and catering compare poorly with similar clubs.

This is an attractive club for a new owner

Calls for change are often met with warnings about how hard Leicester City would be to sell, but recent evidence suggests otherwise.

Sheffield Wednesday, with no recent Premier League football and weaker infrastructure, reportedly attracted over 50 expressions of interest when put up for sale.

Leicester City is a far stronger proposition, with a Category One academy, modern training ground, established and expandable stadium, and the advantage of being a one-club city. Its global profile was permanently altered in 2016, and it retains one of the largest social media followings outside the traditional big six.

For a smart, well-capitalised buyer, Leicester City represents opportunity, not risk.

The “careful what you wish for” argument

Another common response is that things could always be worse. That argument is increasingly hard to sustain.

Leicester City has already suffered relegation, record losses, repeated PSR issues, and prolonged governance failure, and remains under financial scrutiny with the real risk of future sanctions. A points deduction would place the club in serious danger of sliding towards League One.

This is not hypothetical but the direction of travel if current trends continue, and the greater risk now lies in carrying on as we are.

The owner is already absent

There is an uncomfortable truth that needs acknowledging: Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha is rarely present at Leicester City matches and, despite promises to be closer to the club and its supporters, has attended only a handful of games and is not a visible presence around the stadium, training ground or local football community.

Presence signals priority and absence signals detachment. While supporters are repeatedly asked for loyalty, patience and money, the owner has normalised his own absence from the club.

In that context, fans choosing to stay away are not withdrawing something unusual, but reflecting the reality already set at the top.

Enough is enough. Change is needed.

Here’s the social media reaction as Marti Cifuentes reacts amid a statement issued explaining Leicester fans’ boycott protest…

@hursty16: Totally get the boycott and agree with everything they are complaining about, it’s just that I chose to go, my choice. However, don’t slag the fans off who went for being quiet, the atmosphere has been shit all season!! #lcfc

@Owen_wawaw_s6; Fair play to the #LCFC fans boycotting tonight, our boycott was probably the turning point for us #swfc

@jonathan_lcfc: Outside of Covid times, that has to be the poorest crowd for a league game at Leicester City in the 20+ years in that stadium. #lcfc

@danscull88: Glad to see the boycott numbers are really high. Empty seats absolutely everywhere 😍 #LCFC

@LJB1501: Fair play to Leicester fans, that’s how you send a message to the owners #lcfc #wba

@baggieal: Fair play to Leicester fans, I’ve watched a lot of them this season and that team should not be in that position, as bad as we’ve been at Albion, the mismanagement at that club is insane, even more than ours. Boycotts like this is the only way owners listen. #wba #LCFC

@_joshhollandd: Haven’t seen the King Power that empty for a number of years. Boycott certainly made a difference. Yes, it was -4 and a Monday night, but 32,000 have packed into the stadium on colder nights in previous years, when all was good. That’s just a fact. #LCFC

@kelsen_sachin: Really impressed and proud to see the number of empty seats showing that the boycott worked to some effect. We’re still a long way from getting what we want but it’s a start to highlight the negligence from King Power and how we’ll no longer stand for it. #LCFC #KINGPOWEROUT

@danscull88: Perfect evening for a Leicester fan. Watching in the warm with a brew, complete silence at the KP with 10,000 – 15,000 in the stands sending a big message to our ‘leader’. Topped off with a smash and grab goal from Abdul. 🚀 UP THE CITY. #KPOUT #lcfc

@TheSirRobotto: Don’t be fooled by the low attendance tonight for the Leicester vs West Brom game, it’s got NOTHING to do with this ‘Boycott’. It’s a Monday night game, on TV, and it’s about -5 degrees. There might be 50-100 less (thankfully) because of the Boycott, nothing more #LCFC #WBA

@TheSharpeEnd: Yes, it’s -4 degrees outside and the game is on television but, even so, did not expect THAT many to boycott the #LCFC game tonight. So many empty seats. Just on this. It’s clear some fans boycotted the #LCFC game. It’s also understandable to say, too, that some didn’t attend because of the weather, the time, the day, the game being on television, whatever. My mum’s a STH but is in her mid-70s and has crippling arthritis so, on the balance of things, decided probably best to stay at home. But it’s also reasonable to suggest – because I know of plenty more in this category – that others didn’t go, not because they were actively boycotting, but because, for want of a better phrase, they felt they had better things to do with their time on a freezing cold Monday night. It’s not always been that way. There have been many other bitter nights when the crowds have come out, wrapped up, en masse. But this is what it’s come to. That’s why it ended up with one of the smallest crowds I can remember at the KP. Does that make these people less of a supporter, unwilling to stick it out and stay together through the hard times, or was it, simply, the inevitable conclusion for a fanbase that’s had enough of being treated in a certain way. If you keep pushing people away, you can’t be shocked when they don’t come back.

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