Nearly seven years after the death of Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala in a plane crash, lawyers for Cardiff City and FC Nantes face off on Monday before the Nantes commercial court in the financial dispute between the two clubs.
“This hearing marks a new step towards revealing the truth about this matter and strengthening accountability in the world of football. This case is not intended to harm football: it aims to protect its integrity,” Cardiff City Football Club said in a statement to AFP.
The Welsh club took action before the Nantes commercial court in 2023 to claim compensation for loss of income and other damage suffered by the club due to the death of the player.
In particular, he seeks compensation for the financial and reputational losses caused by Cardiff’s move from Division 1 to Division 2.
Striker Emiliano Sala, aged 28, died in January 2019 in a plane crash over the English Channel while joining Cardiff City, the club to which he had been transferred from FC Nantes. He didn’t have time to play with his new club.
Facing the Nantes commercial court, Cardiff City defends that FC Nantes was, via its agent Willie McKay, the sponsor of the private flight on which the footballer took a seat and that, if the transfer was effective at the time of the accident according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), it is the organization of this flight which is in question.
FC Nantes disputes “the existence of a fault”
For its part, FC Nantes disputes “the existence of a fault, a causal link between the hypothetical faults and the damage, and then the damage”, the entourage of Waldemar Kita, president of the FCN, told AFP.
The club “has no doubt that Cardiff’s requests will be rejected outright, like all the others”.
In another procedure linked to the dispute between the two clubs, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) estimated in 2022 that the transfer of the player was indeed finalized at the time of his death.
And in 2023, the FIFA football court ordered Cardiff to pay FC Nantes the balance of the transfer of the Argentine player, at the time just over 11 million euros out of a total of 17 million.
“Illegal flights” singled out
Regarding the procedure initiated before the Nantes commercial court, Cardiff City says it believes that “it is a question of guaranteeing higher standards in our sport, in particular in terms of transfers”. The club points to the organization of “illegal flights” by an agent it says is “banned from practicing”.
After an analysis carried out by an expert commissioned by Cardiff City, the club estimated its damage at more than 120 million euros.
Initially scheduled for September, the hearing on the merits was postponed to December 8.
