Sala Death: Cardiff City Ordered to Pay Nantes £261k

Nantes wins case against Cardiff Over Sala's death

Nantes wins court case against Cardiff City over Sala death, gets £261k in moral damages. Cardiff City's £106m compensation claim dismissed after Emiliano Sala's death in 2019 plane crash.

Cardiff City must pay Nantes £261k after losing compensation case related to Sala's death...

A French court has dismissed Cardiff City's £106m compensation claim against Nantes over the death of Emiliano Sala.

The Welsh club had taken Nantes to court in 2023, seeking damages for loss of income and other costs related to the Argentine striker's death in 2019.

A ruling on Monday ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes 300,000 euros (£261k) in compensation for the “moral damage” suffered by the French club.

Sala, 28, died when his plane crashed into the English Channel on January 21, 2019, just two days after signing for Cardiff from Nantes.

Sala and pilot David Ibbotson lost their lives in the crash.

Cardiff City had estimated their losses at 122 million euros, based on an expert analysis.

The club has struggled since Sala's death, getting relegated from the Premier League and now playing in England's third tier.

“We initiated this process so that the full truth would come to light in this case and out of respect for the memory of Emiliano Sala,” Cardiff's lawyer Celine Jones told reporters after the verdict.

“Today, we bitterly observe that the principles of transparency, integrity, and safety in professional football have not prevailed in this decision,” she added.

Nantes, currently stuck in the Ligue 1 relegation zone, breathed a sigh of relief after the court's decision.

“Nantes are in no way responsible for the incident that occurred,” said club lawyer Jerome Marsaudon said.

“We are pleased the court listened to us and confirmed this in clear terms.”

Cardiff claimed Nantes, via agent Willie McKay, organised the fatal flight, and if the transfer was done, they'd be liable. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had previously ruled the flight organisation was key to the dispute.

In 2022, CAS ruled that Sala's transfer had definitely been finalised at the time of his death.

The following year, world football's governing body FIFA ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes the balance of Sala's transfer fee, which at the time amounted to just over 11 million euros (£9.5m) out of a total of 17 million euros (£14.7m).