Bangkok: Six thousand kilometres away in the teeming Thai capital, saffron-robed holy men believe good karma played a part in Leicester City's stunning fairytale victory in England's top football league.
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"This is not about magic," Phra Prommangkalachan, a monk who has regularly flown to the UK to bless Leicester's players, told London's Daily Telegraph.
"We can only offer spiritual support. We believe that helps the players with their good health, avoiding injuries, with their focus. But they must perform well."
In one of the greatest upsets in sporting history, Leicester cannot be beaten for English football's ultimate prize after Tottenham's failure to win at Stamford Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday.
Leicester's owner, Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a Buddhist devotee, flies a dozen monks from Thailand to the UK for most of the club's games. Their routine involves blessing players before kick-off and splashing holy water on their legs and feet.
"It's like you're literally having a shower, there's that much water going everywhere," striker James Vardy said after one game.
"That's the Thai culture and we are happy for them to do it."
Phra Prommangkalachan, 63, told Reuters that it was "Vichai's good deeds that have helped garner support from fans across the world that has become a power for Leicester City."
Banners and cloths bearing Leicester's name adorn the well-known Golden Buddha temple in Bangkok, alongside Buddhist statues and images.
Soccer-mad Thais have taken Mr Vichai's "Siamese Foxes" to heart since he took a gamble to buy Leicester in 2010 when the club was struggling in English football's second tier.
But his almost $200 million investment in the club has boosted his King Power brand world-wide and the club's success has brought multi-billion dollars television rights.
Mr Vichai, one of Thailand's richest men with a fortune estimated by Forbes Magazine at $US3 billion ($3.9 billion), founded King power in 1989.
The company now employs more than 10,000 people, dominating duty free sales at Thailand's major airports and with investments in restaurants, hotels and solar power.
Mr Vichai, 58, who usually shuns publicity, told a magazine last year that his interest in duty free businesses came from growing up in Taiwan and the United States and travelling regularly through major airports.
"I found it an interesting business…so I said to myself I might be able to it," he said.
His passion for sport, particularly polo and football, led him to England, where he first became one of Leicester's shirt sponsors before he bought the club for $74 million.
Leicester has tried hard to maintain a good image in Thailand after a video emerged last year showing three young players, including James Pearson, son of then manager Nigel Pearson, engaging in explicit sex acts with a group of Thai women in a Bangkok hotel.
Despite Thailand's raunchy nightlife sex is a taboo subject in the largely conservative country.
Leicester appointed a Thai brand ambassador and created a Thai-language YouTube channel.
The Thai king's portrait hangs at the club.
The sex scandal proved an unlikely turning point in Leicester's journey to the premiership, paving the way for Nigel Pearson's sacking and arrival of Italian manager Claudio Ranieri.
When asked recently if Leicester's players will come to Bangkok for a triumphant tour this year, Mr Vichai's son Aiyawatt tersely replied: "No."
