EMILIANO SALA FLIGHT MESSAGES WITH AGENT'S SON REVEALED

Emiliano Sala's messages with agent's son organising flight revealed
Sky Sports News


Saturday 26th Jan 2019


Messages shared between Emiliano Sala and the son of agent Willie McKay discussing flight arrangements have been revealed.


Messages shared between Emiliano Sala and the son of agent Willie McKay discussing flight arrangements have been revealed.

Willie McKay says although he arranged the flight for Sala, he did not own the plane, select the aircraft or the pilot.

After signing for Cardiff last Friday, Sala wanted to return to Nantes to say goodbye to team-mates and collect his belongings before returning to Cardiff on Monday, and McKay stepped in after Sala struggled to find a commercial flight.


Text messages released between Sala and Jack McKay - Willie's son who plays for Cardiff - show that Sala decided to take the offer of a private flight to and from Nantes.

Willie McKay arranged the flight through a company he says he has used many times before.

In a statement, McKay said: "In regards to the booking of the flight, we contacted David Henderson who has flown us and many of our players all over Europe on countless occasions.

"We had no involvement in selecting a plane or a pilot and wish to make clear we do not own the plane that Emiliano flew on. As the text messages show: Emiliano was not asked for payment for the flight.

"The rest of the McKay family would like to offer our sincere support for the Sala family and support their calls for the search to continue."


Below is a transcript of the messages between Jack McKay and Sala leading up to the plane's disappearance on Monday night:


FRIDAY JANUARY 18

7:43pm - Jack McKay: "My dad has told me that you are going home tomorrow. He could organise a plane to take you direct to Nantes and to come back on Monday, at a time that suits you, so you can get to training on Tuesday."

7:51pm - Emiliano Sala: "Ah that is great. I was just in the middle of checking if there are some flights to get to Nantes tomorrow."

7:56pm - McKay: "He said he could organise a plane that would go direct to Nantes."

7:56pm - Sala: "How much will it cost?"

7:56pm - McKay: "Nothing. He said if you help me to score goals it's nothing."

7:59pm - Sala: "Hahaha with pleasure."

8:00pm: "We are going to score lots of goals."

8:01pm: "I want to leave tomorrow for Nantes at around 11am and come back on Monday night around 9pm to Cardiff if that is possible."

8:05pm - McKay: "Good. I'll send a message when that's sorted."


SUNDAY JANUARY 20

5:00pm - Jack McKay: "Hi there is it possible you could come back at seven in the evening on Monday night? Just because the pilot has to get home in the north after he gets to Cardiff."

5:01pm - Emiliano Sala: "Hi, Half past seven would be possible."

5:03pm - McKay: "Yes that's good."

5:05pm - Sala: [PICTURE OF LUGGAGE]: "Can you ask if I can bring this on the plane?"

5:06pm - McKay: "Good yeah."

5:07pm - Sala: "But is that going to be ok for the plane?"

McKay: "Yes there is space on the plane for your luggage."

5:12pm - Sala: "Ok."


MONDAY JANUARY 21

4:16pm - Jack McKay: "I'm going to call in a moment."

[Emiliano Sala voice message]

4.23pm - McKay: "He said that it is the same company."

4.27pm - Sala: "Ok thanks."

What’s the validity of these messages? If they’re copied and pasted the content could have been changed at source, I would hope they were forensically recovered using the correct methods and adhering to UK laws

How have sky got hold of this, plus it was stated Emiliano didn't speak a word of English let alone text it

I might be wrong here, but google brought out a translator app.

so the agent books a flight with the pilot henderson, whos identity card just happens to be scanned the same time as ibbertson and emiliano are going through Nantes security. but henderson says that Nantes have made a mistake. really?
And David ibbertson who is reported to be 18000 in debt decides to travel to cardiff from the north east to fly a plane to Nantes and back in the middle of January for free because he loves flying. really?

How have sky got hold of this, plus it was stated Emiliano didn't speak a word of English let alone text it

Sky says they have converted French to English

McKay senior I sincerely hope you feel like crap. Putting anyone on a single engine puddle hopper who is valued at 15 million (invaluable to many) during a winter storm is unfathomable!! Not to mention the choice of pilot, the dictating of travel times when privately charting a plane... I still think the club SHOULD have handled his travel and expenses.

McKay senior I sincerely hope you feel like crap. Putting anyone on a single engine puddle hopper who is valued at 15 million (invaluable to many) during a winter storm is unfathomable!! Not to mention the choice of pilot, the dictating of travel times when privately charting a plane... I still think the club SHOULD have handled his travel and expenses.

I have to say I agree with you fully that the club should have sorted the travel areangements.

I watched an interview last night with Ken Choo who was basically trying to distance the club from all aspects of the flight arrangements, said something along the lines of “ he was not under our jurisdiction “

Really !? We’ve just paid 15 million for him then as good as say he’s nothing to do with us , this is wrong and has not come across very well.

I’m sure full details will emerge in due course concerning all aspects of the flight arrangements . However I personally feel that the club had a duty of care towards the player after signing him and should have therefore insisted on looking after all aspects of his travel to and from France.

McKay senior I sincerely hope you feel like crap. Putting anyone on a single engine puddle hopper who is valued at 15 million (invaluable to many) during a winter storm is unfathomable!! Not to mention the choice of pilot, the dictating of travel times when privately charting a plane... I still think the club SHOULD have handled his travel and expenses.

I have to say I agree with you fully that the club should have sorted the travel areangements.

I watched an interview last night with Ken Choo who was basically trying to distance the club from all aspects of the flight arrangements, said something along the lines of “ he was not under our jurisdiction “

Really !? We’ve just paid 15 million for him then as good as say he’s nothing to do with us , this is wrong and has not come across very well.

I’m sure full details will emerge in due course concerning all aspects of the flight arrangements . However I personally feel that the club had a duty of care towards the player after signing him and should have therefore insisted on looking after all aspects of his travel to and from France.

100% agree and once the dust has settled on all this I think anger will surface and I would not be surprised if there are serious repercussions. Can you honestly imagine Liverpool or any other Premier League club allowing a record new signing worth millions to make their own travel arrangements and end up on a single engined single propellor small plane travelling at night over sea in winter? No, they would have organised proper commercial flights. Let's wait and see what comes out of this tragedy.

Hope this is not true. If i understand this correctly. This agent was involved getting Sala to Cardiff? He got a dodgy rep from what I’ve red arround. He got two sons at the club, neither any good playing football. He also uses this dodgy “air service” regularly. For both his horse jockeys and dodgy football business.

This is where I get lost. If involved in Salas transfer. Why is his son texting with Sala? This stink! We have to wait for investigation? The police should be all over them before documents and computers go missing.

And both the agent and his sons should be out of the club within hours, as this club dosent accept any arrangements or third party business operations within the club. Make example out of this immediately!

Just feel as fans it’s all too easy for us to blame the agents etc as we’d prefer it if the club had done everything right . Sadly I don’t believe this to be the case and the club do indeed have questions to answer.

Ken choo’s conments about the player “ not being under our jurisdiction “ really annoyed me and were not very carefully chosen words . More like words of someone who basically knows the club could and should have done more .
To me it comes across as if we signed Sala then told him over to you from here you can sort flights etc .. in the transcript of texts between Sala and agent he asks how much the flight is going to cost , that’s so sad .
Surely he shouldn’t be worrying about things like that , it should have all been arranged by the club for him .

And further. People was saying Salas ex was reacting somewhat over emotional when saying “the football mafia killed him” Maybe she knew more about it than first thought.

McKay senior I sincerely hope you feel like crap. Putting anyone on a single engine puddle hopper who is valued at 15 million (invaluable to many) during a winter storm is unfathomable!! Not to mention the choice of pilot, the dictating of travel times when privately charting a plane... I still think the club SHOULD have handled his travel and expenses.

I have to say I agree with you fully that the club should have sorted the travel areangements.

I watched an interview last night with Ken Choo who was basically trying to distance the club from all aspects of the flight arrangements, said something along the lines of “ he was not under our jurisdiction “

Really !? We’ve just paid 15 million for him then as good as say he’s nothing to do with us , this is wrong and has not come across very well.

I’m sure full details will emerge in due course concerning all aspects of the flight arrangements . However I personally feel that the club had a duty of care towards the player after signing him and should have therefore insisted on looking after all aspects of his travel to and from France.

100% agree and once the dust has settled on all this I think anger will surface and I would not be surprised if there are serious repercussions. Can you honestly imagine Liverpool or any other Premier League club allowing a record new signing worth millions to make their own travel arrangements and end up on a single engined single propellor small plane travelling at night over sea in winter? No, they would have organised proper commercial flights. Let's wait and see what comes out of this tragedy.

They dont own the player he is a human being. They own the rights to his football ability. They cant dictate what he can do unless its in his contract. He was offered by the club. This is not the clubs fault. You can take a donkey to water but you cant make him drink it

McKay senior I sincerely hope you feel like crap. Putting anyone on a single engine puddle hopper who is valued at 15 million (invaluable to many) during a winter storm is unfathomable!! Not to mention the choice of pilot, the dictating of travel times when privately charting a plane... I still think the club SHOULD have handled his travel and expenses.

I have to say I agree with you fully that the club should have sorted the travel areangements.

I watched an interview last night with Ken Choo who was basically trying to distance the club from all aspects of the flight arrangements, said something along the lines of “ he was not under our jurisdiction “

Really !? We’ve just paid 15 million for him then as good as say he’s nothing to do with us , this is wrong and has not come across very well.

I’m sure full details will emerge in due course concerning all aspects of the flight arrangements . However I personally feel that the club had a duty of care towards the player after signing him and should have therefore insisted on looking after all aspects of his travel to and from France.

100% agree and once the dust has settled on all this I think anger will surface and I would not be surprised if there are serious repercussions. Can you honestly imagine Liverpool or any other Premier League club allowing a record new signing worth millions to make their own travel arrangements and end up on a single engined single propellor small plane travelling at night over sea in winter? No, they would have organised proper commercial flights. Let's wait and see what comes out of this tragedy.

They dont own the player he is a human being. They own the rights to his football ability. They cant dictate what he can do unless its in his contract. He was offered by the club. This is not the clubs fault. You can take a donkey to water but you cant make him drink it

No one is saying they own the player , just stating they have a duty of care towards him. I’m sure had the club organised a private Jet for both legs of the journey at times suitable to the player then he would not have said no .

The messages are accurate, not sure how Sky have got them but they come direct from McKays & Salas phone. You can hear the voice recordings on Sky.

I say this with the upmost respect as the man has tragically lost his life but clearly there will be further questions on the pilot used for the flight and the licence he held. Would a commercial pilot have refused to fly that aircraft at that time.... We'll never know.

I think it raises huge questions on the how much control a club has over a player when they're not training or playing.

Where do you draw the line!! It's only an example but could a player on their holiday go on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon etc. The club wouldn't organise that. What if the accident had been in a car going to the airport, would the club be blamed for not organising transfers etc.

At the moment it looks like the club didn't know the type of plane being used and the circumstances with the pilot etc. Would of they stepped in if they had known.... who knows.

It's just such a tragic situation.

The messages are accurate, not sure how Sky have got them but they come direct from McKays & Salas phone. You can hear the voice recordings on Sky.

I say this with the upmost respect as the man has tragically lost his life but clearly there will be further questions on the pilot used for the flight and the licence he held. Would a commercial pilot have refused to fly that aircraft at that time.... We'll never know.

I think it raises huge questions on the how much control a club has over a player when they're not training or playing.

Where do you draw the line!! It's only an example but could a player on their holiday go on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon etc. The club wouldn't organise that. What if the accident had been in a car going to the airport, would the club be blamed for not organising transfers etc.

At the moment it looks like the club didn't know the type of plane being used and the circumstances with the pilot etc. Would of they stepped in if they had known.... who knows.

It's just such a tragic situation.

Don’t think this is a matter of how much control a club have over a player , it looks as if the clubs offer of a commercial flight didn’t suit the player for whatever reason.

He accepted the offer of a private Jet from the agent as it obviously suited him better and therefore If the club offered to arrange similar Transpot arrangements then he would have accepted that too .

The messages are accurate, not sure how Sky have got them but they come direct from McKays & Salas phone. You can hear the voice recordings on Sky.

I say this with the upmost respect as the man has tragically lost his life but clearly there will be further questions on the pilot used for the flight and the licence he held. Would a commercial pilot have refused to fly that aircraft at that time.... We'll never know.

I think it raises huge questions on the how much control a club has over a player when they're not training or playing.

Where do you draw the line!! It's only an example but could a player on their holiday go on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon etc. The club wouldn't organise that. What if the accident had been in a car going to the airport, would the club be blamed for not organising transfers etc.

At the moment it looks like the club didn't know the type of plane being used and the circumstances with the pilot etc. Would of they stepped in if they had known.... who knows.

It's just such a tragic situation.

Don’t think this is a matter of how much control a club have over a player , it looks as if the clubs offer of a commercial flight didn’t suit the player for whatever reason.

He accepted the offer of a private Jet from the agent as it obviously suited him better and therefore If the club offered to arrange similar Transpot arrangements then he would have accepted that too .

Well you clearly know more than us.

In what way do I know more ?

The club stated they offered commercial flights which was a route not taken.

The agent offers a private jet and he takes them up on it.

The club offered a flight but it was a commercial plane to Paris but Sala wanted to fly direct to Nantes and his agent arranged a cheap tin shed to fly him. Ken Choo said they have no jurisdiction over the player. Unfortunately they couldn’t force him. What more could the club do? Pay for an expensive jet every time every player wants to fly. It would cost the club a fortune l.

The messages are accurate, not sure how Sky have got them but they come direct from McKays & Salas phone. You can hear the voice recordings on Sky.

I say this with the upmost respect as the man has tragically lost his life but clearly there will be further questions on the pilot used for the flight and the licence he held. Would a commercial pilot have refused to fly that aircraft at that time.... We'll never know.

I think it raises huge questions on the how much control a club has over a player when they're not training or playing.

Where do you draw the line!! It's only an example but could a player on their holiday go on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon etc. The club wouldn't organise that. What if the accident had been in a car going to the airport, would the club be blamed for not organising transfers etc.

At the moment it looks like the club didn't know the type of plane being used and the circumstances with the pilot etc. Would of they stepped in if they had known.... who knows.

It's just such a tragic situation.

Don’t think this is a matter of how much control a club have over a player , it looks as if the clubs offer of a commercial flight didn’t suit the player for whatever reason.

He accepted the offer of a private Jet from the agent as it obviously suited him better and therefore If the club offered to arrange similar Transpot arrangements then he would have accepted that too .

I don't know anything in regard to the conversations between Sala and the club, or the club & Salas representatives. Who knows what the club's travel arragments would have been. Sala was looking at booking a commercial flight when Mckay contacted him so clearly this was still an option for him at the time.

I think your missing my point slightly. Cardiff own the footballer but don't own the life. Therefore there is very little control on what a player does in his own time.

This a could be a tragic choice between a more convenient option with the flight times and location.

He was so excited to be joing in with his new team mates and he wanted to make sure he was back for training.

I've asked the question to myself, why not leave earlier in the day when its light etc. But when you've got to pack your life up, say good bye to close friends, I'm sure he didn't stop all weekend and maybe he was meeting people at certain times.

No one knows the consequences of our decisions or what's around the corner.

There will be some difficult questions to answer mind...

Sala had requested the times to leave etc. But we're the additional risks of flying at night in this particular plane explained to him?

Does the pilot actually have the correct licence to fly this plane?

Was the plane safe to fly?

I'm sure all of these things will be investigated.

The club offered a flight but it was a commercial plane to Paris but Sala wanted to fly direct to Nantes and his agent arranged a cheap tin shed to fly him. Ken Choo said they have no jurisdiction over the player. Unfortunately they couldn’t force him. What more could the club do? Pay for an expensive jet every time every player wants to fly. It would cost the club a fortune l.

Initially I thought club should sort it but when you hear ken say he declined, I agree you can’t say no no this is what’s happening. He’s just signed, he’s a human being and a grown man you have to just let me him do what he’s going to do. Sadly, and hindsight is a wonderful thing nobody knew the arrangements that would be made.

Am not sure the agent can held accountable, let’s be honest before all this how many were valued up on the ability of small aircrafts?! It’s easy to say after and all seems obvious. The pilot is the one with the aviation knowledge and expertise, so tragic and the blame game will no doubt follow. It won’t howver bring sala back...

Just find it sad to think that the boy is looking to sort his own flights at that time on the Friday evening.

If he was offered commercial flights by the club , why refuse them and then go looking to sort similar arrangements himself .

I just feel that this should not have been left down to him to arrange , even if the club offered the commercial flights via Paris and he turned down and said he’d sort himself , could the club have not pursued further as in asking why this didn’t suit him and then explore different options to meet with his requirements.

This stinks to me ,somethings will come out later, that haven’t yet about this flight .

He refused because he didn’t want to fly to Paris.

He refused because he didn’t want to fly to Paris.

Yes but what I’m saying is that when he give that answer to the club , could they not have asked what it was he actually needed.

We’d just spent 15 million on him and in the grand scheme of things a few grand more for a private jet to Nantes is nothing .

The club offered a flight but it was a commercial plane to Paris but Sala wanted to fly direct to Nantes and his agent arranged a cheap tin shed to fly him. Ken Choo said they have no jurisdiction over the player. Unfortunately they couldn’t force him. What more could the club do? Pay for an expensive jet every time every player wants to fly. It would cost the club a fortune l.

Exactly where does end, do they arrange every taxi and vet every taxi driver.

As I said the club have to treat everyone the same so they could not afford jets fir every journey. They go all the time during breaks

Below is a transcript of the messages between Jack McKay and Sala leading up to the plane's disappearance on Monday night:

FRIDAY JANUARY 18

7:43pm - Jack McKay: "My dad has told me that you are going home tomorrow. He could organise a plane to take you direct to Nantes and to come back on Monday, at a time that suits you, so you can get to training on Tuesday."

7:51pm - Emiliano Sala: "Ah that is great. I was just in the middle of checking if there are some flights to get to Nantes tomorrow."

7:56pm - McKay: "He said he could organise a plane that would go direct to Nantes."

7:56pm - Sala: "How much will it cost?"

7:56pm - McKay: "Nothing. He said if you help me to score goals it's nothing."

7:59pm - Sala: "Hahaha with pleasure."

8:00pm: "We are going to score lots of goals."

8:01pm: "I want to leave tomorrow for Nantes at around 11am and come back on Monday night around 9pm to Cardiff if that is possible."

8:05pm - McKay: "Good. I'll send a message when that's sorted."

SUNDAY JANUARY 20

5:00pm - Jack McKay: "Hi there is it possible you could come back at seven in the evening on Monday night? Just because the pilot has to get home in the north after he gets to Cardiff."

5:01pm - Emiliano Sala: "Hi, Half past seven would be possible."

5:03pm - McKay: "Yes that's good."

5:05pm - Sala: [PICTURE OF LUGGAGE]: "Can you ask if I can bring this on the plane?"

5:06pm - McKay: "Good yeah."

5:07pm - Sala: "But is that going to be ok for the plane?"

McKay: "Yes there is space on the plane for your luggage."

5:12pm - Sala: "Ok."

MONDAY JANUARY 21

4:16pm - Jack McKay: "I'm going to call in a moment."

[Emiliano Sala voice message]

4.23pm - McKay: "He said that it is the same company."

4.27pm - Sala: "Ok thanks."

The club offered a flight but it was a commercial plane to Paris but Sala wanted to fly direct to Nantes and his agent arranged a cheap tin shed to fly him. Ken Choo said they have no jurisdiction over the player. Unfortunately they couldn’t force him. What more could the club do? Pay for an expensive jet every time every player wants to fly. It would cost the club a fortune l.

Exactly where does end, do they arrange every taxi and vet every taxi driver.

And book their summer holidays for them.

The club offered a flight but it was a commercial plane to Paris but Sala wanted to fly direct to Nantes and his agent arranged a cheap tin shed to fly him. Ken Choo said they have no jurisdiction over the player. Unfortunately they couldn’t force him. What more could the club do? Pay for an expensive jet every time every player wants to fly. It would cost the club a fortune l.

Exactly where does end, do they arrange every taxi and vet every taxi driver.

That’s not what I’m saying , just feel that it would have been appropriate in this situation for the club to arrange.

As I stated earlier ,everyone including myself would prefer it if the club had done everything they possibly could , but in my honest opinion I don’t feel they did.