Source:REUTERS/Peter Cziborra
[Saba Sports News] According to British media reports, the financial dispute between Cardiff City and Nantes is about to reach a verdict. In January 2019, Argentine striker Emiliano Sala was killed in a plane crash over the English Channel while traveling from Nantes to Cardiff City ahead of his transfer. He had signed with Cardiff City for a transfer fee of €17 million but never played a single match for his new club. In 2023, Cardiff City Football Club filed a lawsuit with the Nantes Commercial Court, claiming compensation for lost revenue and other damages suffered as a result of the player’s death. Cardiff City alleges that Nantes, through the player’s agent, was involved in organizing the private flight that Sala took. The club states that “the agent could not have been unaware of the illegality of the flight” and has accused him of “negligence” and “imprudence”. Although the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the transfer had taken effect at the time of the accident, Cardiff City maintains that the organizers of the flight should be held liable.
The editor believes that regardless of the root cause of the accident, Sala should never have boarded that plane. Now, seven years later, the Nantes Commercial Court is about to deliver a ruling on the financial dispute between Cardiff City and Nantes.