July 3 – Cardiff City have been ordered by FIFA to make the last two payments to Nantes for the late Emiliano Sala’s transfer.
The small private plane carrying the Argentine forward to Cardiff crashed in the English Channel, killing him as well as the pilot, two days after he signed for €17 million in January 2019.
In an ongoing and ugly dispute over the transfer agreement, Cardiff have long argued Nantes must be held accountable for the tragic accident but the French club’s claim for the first €6 million of the fee was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last August, and Cardiff say they have now been ordered by FIFA to pay the last two instalments.
Reports claim the Welsh club, who play in the second tier of English football, intend reluctantly to pay up but they have also lodged a negligence claim in the French courts against Nantes, believing they are owed damages.
“Yesterday the CEO of FC Nantes, Franck Kita, was placed into police custody alongside (agents) Bakari Sanogo and Joaquim Batica by the JIRS, French prosecutors specialised in organised crime and financial crime,” Cardiff said in a statement.
“The club’s negligence claim in France against FC Nantes exhibits direct exchanges showing Mr Kita was informing Mr Sanogo of the proposed transfer fee for Emiliano Sala. It is not clear why.
“In the circumstances, the club considers that it would have been fairer if the requirement to pay Nantes had been deferred until the conclusion of the French police investigations and the club’s claim against Nantes in the French courts.”
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