Cardiff City will not be allowed to sign any players during the upcoming transfer window, the Welsh club confirmed to the BBC. The Championship club is thus punished for refusing to pay the first part of the transfer fee for Emiliano Sala.
The Argentine attacker was killed in 2019 during a flight from France to the United Kingdom. At the time, 28-year-old Sala made the switch from FC Nantes to Cardiff City for 17 million euros.
His plane disappeared from radar over The Channel. Sala’s body has been recovered, but the remains of the pilot have not been found.
Cardiff City must pay Nantes 6 million euros for the deceased attacker. That ruling by world football association FIFA was confirmed last summer by the international sports tribunal CAS. The clubs tried to find a solution for the financial settlement in consultation, but were unsuccessful. Nantes then went to FIFA.
“We have not paid and have no intention at this time to do so,” said Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman. His club is twentieth in the Championship, the second tier in England.
