Cardiff City have been ordered by the Court of Arbitration in Sport to pay Nantes for the transfer of Emiliano Sala.
Sala died in tragic circumstances in January 2019 when the plane he was travelling in from France crashed in the English Channel en route to south Wales. The Bluebirds announced his signing two days beforehand. His body was found in February of that year. Pilot David Ibbotson also died in the crash. His body was never recovered.
In the aftermath of the incident there was a dispute between the two clubs over the transfer fee which eventually went to the Court of Arbitration in Sport. FIFA originally ordered Cardiff to pay the first instalment of the £15million transfer fee agreed with Nantes to buy the Argentine striker.
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Cardiff presented their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland and the hearing took place in early March. A decision has now been reached and their appeal has been dismissed and it has been confirmed the transfer was completed before the striker's death. They will now have to pay the first installment of that fee - around €6million.
In a statement, CAS said: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by Cardiff City Football Club (Cardiff City FC) against Football Club de Nantes (FC Nantes) in relation to the decision issued by the Bureau of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee on 25 September 2019 (the Challenged Decision). The Challenged Decision, in which Cardiff City FC was ordered to pay EUR 6 million to FC Nantes in connection with the transfer of the player Emiliano Sala between the clubs, is confirmed. Cardiff City FC filed an appeal at the CAS on 20 November 2019."
The statement went on to add: "After taking into due consideration all the evidence produced and all the arguments put forward by both clubs, the CAS Panel found the Player’s transfer from FC Nantes to Cardiff City FC to have been completed; and because the conditions set out in the Transfer Agreement were fulfilled prior to the Player’s death, FC Nantes’ claim for the first instalment of the transfer fee in the amount of EUR 6 million was upheld."
Cardiff, in response to the news, have revealed they will be appealing the news and will not be making any payments at this time.
In a statement, the club said: "Cardiff City is disappointed by the decision of the Court of Arbitration in Sport.
"Once the club’s lawyers have digested the reasons for the decision we expect to appeal and will not be making any payments to FC Nantes in the meanwhile.
"If those appeals are unsuccessful and the club is liable to pay the transfer fee the club will take legal action against those responsible for the crash for damages to recover its losses.
"All our thoughts must continue to be with Emiliano’s family, who are now supported financially by the Trust the club put in place for them."
Nantes said in a statement on their website: "FC Nantes welcomes the decision rendered today on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"The CAS has completely rejected the appeal lodged by Cardiff City and has confirmed the decision rendered by FIFA on September 25, 2019, concerning the transfer of player Emiliano Sala.
"The court therefore ruled, as FC Nantes had argued since the start of the proceedings, that the player's transfer to Cardiff City was over when he died tragically in an aviation accident.
"Consequently, the CAS ordered Cardiff City to pay the transfer fee to FC Nantes and sentenced Cardiff to a historically high sum, in respect of procedural costs and arbitration costs.
"FC Nantes is delighted that this procedure – initiated by Cardiff City then delayed on numerous occasions by Cardiff City – which has been difficult for all those close to Emiliano, is finally over.
"The Club hopes that this will mark the end of the public misinformation campaign, which the FCN has never reacted to, out of respect for the player's family."
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