Cardiff City to pay Nantes £5.3 million for Emiliano Sala signing

30 September 2019, 16:33

Cardiff City have been ordered to pay Nantes £5.3 million in relation to the signing of late footballer Emiliano Sala.

The Argentinian striker died in January when the aircraft he was travelling in from France to the UK to complete his move to the Welsh side crashed in the English Channel.

The 28-year-old suffered from multiple “head and trunk injuries” in the accident, which also killed 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson, whose body has never been recovered.

Cardiff City had argued that they could not be held liable for the £15million fee because Sala had not been registered as a Premier League player.

But FIFA's player status committee has decided that they must pay his former club the amount equivalent to the first instalment of that fee.

A statement from the committee read: "In a meeting held on September 25, 2019, the FIFA players' status committee established that Cardiff must pay Nantes the sum of 6,000,000 euros, corresponding to the first instalment due in accordance with the transfer agreement concluded between the parties on January 19, 2019 for the transfer of the late Emiliano Sala from Nantes to Cardiff.

"The FIFA players' status committee, which never lost sight of the specific and unique circumstances of this tragic situation during its deliberations on the dispute at stake, refrained from imposing procedural costs on the parties.

"The findings of the decision were notified to the parties concerned today. Within a deadline of 10 days, Cardiff and Nantes can request a copy of the grounds of the decision, which can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne."

A Cardiff City FC spokesperson said: "Cardiff City FC acknowledges the decision announced today by FIFA’s Players Status Committee regarding the transfer of Emiliano Sala.

"We will be seeking further clarification from FIFA on the exact meaning of their statement in order to make an informed decision on our next steps."