Emiliano Sala

Breaking: FIFA rules Cardiff City FC must pay FC Nantes €6million as a 1st instalment due from the transfer agreement between the 2 clubs for the transfer of the late Emiliano Sala. Cardiff have been refusing to pay the £15m fee on basis he was not registered at time of death



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No qualms about that in my book. Nantes have received a considerable sum whilst we haven’t been taken to the cleaners

Does that mean we have to pay the 2nd instalment (and 3rd) when due also? Or is this the final settlement?

All sky are saying is we have to pay 5.3m for transfer of Emiliano Sala. They're not sure if we pay instalments over the following couple of seasons though.

Does that mean we have to pay the 2nd instalment (and 3rd) when due also? Or is this the final settlement?

The way its worded it suggests that is a final payment. Otherwise why not say city must honour contract? Smacks of compromise


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=210174

Does that mean we have to pay the 2nd instalment (and 3rd) when due also? Or is this the final settlement?

The way its worded it suggests that is a final payment. Otherwise why not say city must honour contract? Smacks of compromise

Legally all that stage all Nantes could demand would have been the first instalment. I fear we are going to have to pay the full amount eventually. Don't know if the insurance will now cover it now its been settled.

Does that mean we have to pay the 2nd instalment (and 3rd) when due also? Or is this the final settlement?

The way its worded it suggests that is a final payment. Otherwise why not say city must honour contract? Smacks of compromise

Legally all that stage all Nantes could demand would have been the first instalment. I fear we are going to have to pay the full amount eventually. Don't know if the insurance will now cover it now its been settled.

City asking fifa for clarification on ruling,we will soon know,but have a gut feeling,this will be appealed,I hope not,its a cloud over the club's head,that needs settling one way or the other.

We rarely pay what the papers quote. I guess (and that is all it is) this was a heavily structured and reliant on many factors, games, goals, assists, staying up , sell on clauses. The first instalment may be all we need to pay.

Cardiff City are set to be billed the entire £15 million transfer fee for Emiliano Sala after Fifa threw out an initial bid to avoid paying a first instalment after his plane crash.

The Welsh club, locked in a legal dispute with FC Nantes since the tragedy in January, are now seeking clarification from the governing body before launching a likely appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Fifa, which has been investigating after Nantes made a formal complaint, ruled that Cardiff must initially pay a fee of six million euros (£5.3m) "corresponding to the first instalment due".

Sources close to the governing body said the club will eventually be liable to pay the entire fee, but Cardiff expressed confusion over whether the initial demand was the final bill. Mehmet Dalman, the chairman, told the Daily Telegraph the club would be seeking more information before making any decision on whether the club will appeal.

Sala, 28, had been the man earmarked by manager Neil Warnock to ensure the then Premier League strugglers avoided relegation. He was announced by Cardiff, now in the Championship, two days before he died in a plane crash on January 21.


The striker was on the return leg of a short visit to France to bid farewell to his team-mates when the US-registered Piper Malibu N264DB, unlicensed for commercial flying, fell thousands of feet in the space of 20 seconds, minutes after part-time pilot Dave Ibbotson requested a descent.

Recriminations over the crash still linger between Cardiff, Nantes and Willie McKay, the unlicensed intermediary who admits making arrangements for the flight.

Cardiff have claimed since February that Sala was not officially their player when he died, claiming the transfer was null and void because the Premier League had rejected certain clauses requested by Nantes in the original contract. Sala never had a chance to review or sign the final version.

However, the Fifa's Players’ Status Committee ruled on Monday in favour of Nantes, who had demanded payment for the first instalment. "Within a deadline of 10 days, Cardiff City FC and FC Nantes can request a copy of the grounds of the decision, which can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne," Fifa said.


The governing body refused to confirm whether Cardiff will eventually be hit with the £15million fee outlined in the contract. "For confidentiality reasons, we cannot comment at this stage on potential future instalments or other conditions of the transfer agreement," a spokesman said.

A Cardiff statement said: "Cardiff City FC acknowledges the decision announced today by Fifa's players status committee regarding the transfer of Emiliano Sala.

"We will be seeking further clarification from Fifa on the exact meaning of their statement in order to make an informed decision on our next steps."

The footballer's body was recovered from the wreckage, but Ibbotson, from Crowle, North Lincolnshire, has still not been found. Sala was exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide prior to the crash, air accident investigators recently revealed.

Nantes said in a statement on Monday night that the Fifa ruling was "not a surprise". "We welcome this decision by Fifa," the club's lawyers said. "Cardiff must respect its commitments and the rules of sports law