Cardiff City are reportedly demanding Nantes pay them £104million in compensation over the death of Emiliano Sala in a plane crash in 2019.
In the latest instalment of the drawn-out legal battle between the two clubs over the Argentine striker’s tragic death, L’Equipe are reporting that Cardiff want damages for the relegation they subsequently suffered from the Premier League.
Cardiff had agreed a £15m deal to sign Sala from the French club but the single-piston engine Piper Malibu aircraft transporting Sala to Wales crashed off Alderney in the Channel Islands.
L’Equipe say that Cardiff will present the £104m invoice before the Nantes Commercial Court on Monday, the figure based on data analysis which says they had a 54.2 per cent chance of avoiding relegation with Sala.
The club enlisted the services of Analytics FC, who calculated the expected goals and points gained had Sala played for them during the second half of the season.
A tribute to Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala at the at the Beaujoire stadium in Nantes – he died in a plane crash close to the Channel Islands en route to Cardiff in 2019
Sala signing for Cardiff in 2019, with CEO Ken Choo, holding a silver pen. Now Cardiff are launching a fresh legal case demanding compensation for their Premier League relegation
Cardiff owner Vincent Tan has previously said he won’t give up the fight for compensation
The Piper Malibu aircraft on the tarmac at Nantes Airport, France, before the tragedy
Maurice Nussenbaum, a French legal and financial expert brought into the case by Cardiff, argues the financial loss without him – including money lost following their relegation and ‘reputational damage’ – at around £104m.
Nantes have launched a counter-claim, which L’Equipe says is based on ‘moral damage’, and they are demanding Cardiff are fined.
Neil Warnock’s Cardiff were relegated in 2019 after finishing third from bottom in the Premier League, two points from safety.
While it isn’t known for certain whether Sala’s goals would have kept Cardiff up, he averaged a goal every three games for Nantes in the French league and was expected to perform well in the Premier League.
Cardiff initially argued to FIFA that Sala wasn’t registered as their player at the time of the plane crash and so they were not liable for the £15m transfer fee.
As such, they withheld the first instalment of £5m due to Nantes.
However, FIFA ruled the transfer had been completed and imposed a transfer embargo on the Bluebirds for non-payment.
That was only lifted back in January after owner Vincent Tan paid the money in full to Nantes last July after Cardiff failed in efforts to get the Court of Arbitration of Sport to overturn FIFA’s decision.
Cardiff are now hoping to reclaim the £15m fee – plus considerably more – by pursuing the case through the French legal system.
Cardiff are making the case that Sala’s goals might have kept them in the Premier League
Footage from a video made of the wrecked plane which crashed into the Channel in 2019
Tributes left to Sala outside the Cardiff City Stadium after his tragic death five years ago
Tan previously told L’Equipe: ‘I am very angry. We have no choice, we will not stop.
‘We were never able to use the very promising player that we had bought. Emiliano Sala could have scored the few goals that would have saved us from demotion to the Championship.
‘This resulted in a loss of £100m, at least, for the club. With Sala, we could have been maintained [as a top-flight club].
‘He didn’t play a single game for us. Why should we pay for his entire transfer? FC Nantes must be punished.’
