The death of Emiliano Sala: the fight between two clubs that unleashed his tragedy

The Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala died tragically on January 21, 2019 when the plane that was taking him from Nantes to Cardiff, led by a pilot with an expired license, crashed in the English Channel. In addition to dismay, his death sparked a fight between two clubs which, even three years after the tragedy, has no solution.

Cardiff City, a Welsh Premier League club, had agreed the incorporation of the 28-year-old Argentine striker in exchange for 17 million euros, as signed with Nantes, the French club in which Sala was a member. But nevertheless, after the fatal accident a legal dispute aroseHe is still going.

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The fight between Cardiff and Nantes over Emiliano Sala’s pass

On September 30, 2019, FIFA decided that Cardiff should pay 6 million euros to Nantes for the transfer of the Sala, as a first disbursement. After the tragedy, the British club had decided not to pay the first 6 million of the total amount of the transfer, which had been validated by the soccer authorities before the accident.

Because, Nantes reported the case to FIFA in February 2019, with the aim of collecting the total amount agreed upon. At the end of August 2019, FIFA sent an email to the two clubs in which they urged a conciliation for the payment of the transfer of the Argentine soccer player. As the two clubs had not reached an agreement, the case went to the Player’s Status Commission, which finally decided to order Cardiff to pay Nantes of France 6 of the 17 million euros that had been agreed for the transfer of the Argentine player.

In your deliberations, “the tragic and unique circumstances surrounding the litigation” were taken into account, as specified by FIFA in its statement. On the other hand, the FIFA Commission did not claim the expenses for the process from the parties.

The Welsh club appealed the ruling and resorted to the TAS. The Tribunal Arbitral du Sport or Court of Arbitration for Sport is the highest instance of sports justice worldwide and functions independently of any organization. Having its main base in Laussane (Switzerland), it is made up of 389 referees, of which 90 are specialized in football.

The arbitration procedures take place in two different phases: a phase consisting of the exchange of arguments in writing, and an oral phase in which the parties are heard by the arbitrators before making a final determination.

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The TAS has the power to adopt precautionary measures, suspend the execution of a sanction or issue a resolution in a shorter period of time. This occurs when the urgency of the situation requires it. Each year they review about 300 cases, which they say takes between six months and a year of analysis.

For now, the Court of Arbitration for Sport scheduled a two-day hearing to discuss Cardiff’s appeal to avoid paying Nantes for the striker’s transfer. The CAS reported that the hearing will be held on March 3 and 4, 2022. In any case, the ruling could take several months.

The Cardiff Argument

The Cardiff affirms that the player was still belonging to Nantes and that they are also trying to hide it. The English club claims that Nantes sent a check dated just January 21, 2019, the day of the plane crash, in the name of Sala’s mother, Mercedes Taffarel, sending him the settlement of the player’s contract with Nantes. Exactly 16,291 euros.

Cardiff argue that Nantes sent that check to make it clear that they no longer had any legal link with Sala at the time of the accident. According to the club, this check should have been sent the same day of the disappearance, but they affirm that the family did not receive it until the day it was confirmed that Sala had died in the plane crash.

According to reports from England, this test is in the hands of the TAS and it has even been presented by Cardiff before the French ordinary justice.

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