The “negligence” of an agent denounced on one side by Cardiff City, a “judicial relentlessness” denounced on the other by FC Nantes. Almost seven years after the death of Emiliano Sala in a plane crash, lawyers for the two clubs pleaded Monday before the Nantes commercial court, which will rule on March 30.
The Argentine striker, aged 28, died during a flight over the Channel in January 2019 while joining Cardiff City, where he had just been transferred from FC Nantes. He didn’t have time to play with his new club.
Cardiff City Football Club (CCFC) took action before the Nantes Commercial Court in 2023 to claim compensation for loss of income and other damages suffered by the club due to the death of the player.
A person already convicted
The British club defends that FC Nantes was, via agent Willie McKay, involved in the organization of the private flight on which the footballer took a seat. And therefore partly responsible for the accident.
Accused of having shown “levity” and “negligence”, Willie McKay “could not ignore the illegality of the theft”, according to Cardiff City lawyer, Me Olivier Loizon. “Whatever the final cause of the accident, Emiliano Sala should not have been on the flight,” he added.
For their part, FC Nantes’ lawyers recalled that only David Henderson, organizer of the theft, had been convicted by the courts in the United Kingdom for having hired a pilot he knew was unqualified and transporting a passenger without valid authorization.
More than 120 million euros in damage according to Cardiff
“It is sad to see that Cardiff has exploited this drama, and made it into a real legal comedy,” argued Mr. Marsaudon. Nothing in this file justifies the liability of FC Nantes. » Pleading alongside him, Me Louis-Marie Absil denounced “judicial relentlessness” and a “desire to tarnish the reputation of FC Nantes”.
After an analysis carried out by an expert commissioned by Cardiff City, the Welsh club estimated its damage at more than 120 million euros. A financial expert detailed the calculation method, taking into account in particular the sporting relegation of Cardiff to the English second division.
“Fantastic” figures for Me Louis-Marie Absil. Faced with the commercial court, FC Nantes’ lawyers requested one million euros from Cardiff City on Monday for moral damage.
In another procedure linked to the dispute between the two clubs, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in 2022 that the player’s transfer was indeed finalized at the time of his death. In 2023, the FIFA football court had already ordered Cardiff to pay FC Nantes the balance of the transfer of the Argentine player, at the time just over 11 million euros.
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