Cardiff City to sue Nantes £100m over Sala’s death
Chairman of Cardiff City, Mehmet Dalman, says the club is suing French Ligue 1 side Nantes for almost £100 million (€110 million) over the death of Emiliano Sala.
The Argentine striker died in a plane crash while travelling to the Welsh capital to complete a £15 million move from the French club during the January transfer window in 2019.
Dalman accused Nantes of putting Sala in an aeroplane not worthy of flying, as he died along with the pilot David Ibbotson.
“We bought a young man in the prime of his career, in good faith,” Dalman said on Talksport.
“Somebody, without our knowledge, put him in an unfit aeroplane and flew him in a dangerous time of the day, or night in this case. Unfortunately, the two people died because of it.
“Why is it that it’s Cardiff that has to then write the cheque out for as much as that? Cardiff is not a wealthy club, it can’t afford this.
“So I don’t see why people say we’re just after money. We just want to get some justice.”
Cardiff has promised to take legal action against Nantes following a verdict by the Swiss Federal Tribunal that stated the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) did not have jurisdiction to deal with the club’s claim for damages.
The Bluebirds were in the Premier League at the time of Sala’s transfer but were relegated to the Championship and have remained there since.
Sala scored 13 goals in 21 appearances for Nantes during the 2018-19 season before his death at the age of 28. He scored a total of 48 goals for the Canaries in three-and-a-half years.
He played for seven clubs during his career, scoring 94 goals and providing 40 assists in 237 appearances.
