Satisfaction for FC Nantes. Almost four years after Emiliano Sala’s tragic plane crash, the club Cardiff City paid FC Nantes a first installment of around 6 million euros of the amount of the transfer of the Argentine player, we learned on Wednesday from FC Nantes. On January 21, 2019, Emiliano Sala, 28, was killed in the crash of the small tourist plane which took him from Nantes to Cardiff, where he had just been transferred for 17 million euros. Since then, Cardiff refused to pay the sum, ensuring that the transfer had not yet been finalized at the time of death and demanded that the responsibilities in the accident be established.
Fifa ordered the payment of a first installment of 6 million euros and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Cardiff’s appeal in August, finding that the transfer “had been finalized” at the time of death. Since then, the club has been banned from recruitment for not having paid.
Cardiff still hopes with CAS
The CAS decision is the subject of an appeal, the result of which should be known at the end of January or the beginning of February, but this appeal is not suspensive and Cardiff, currently 20th in the Championship (English second division), two points behind red zone, needs to strengthen in the winter transfer window.
Nantes confirmed on Wednesday that they had received around 6 million euros, the equivalent of the first installment set at 5.3 million pounds. According to several British media, the amount of this installment is in fact now 7 million pounds (nearly 8 million euros) with interest.