Nice have condemned their own fans over a sickening Emiliano Sala chant during their clash with St Etienne.
French Football News reports that during the ninth minute of Nice's 4-2 victory over St Etienne on Wednesday, a section of supporters sang a distasteful chant about Sala, who died in January 2019 in a plane accident over the English Channel.
The song allegedly translates to: “He’s an Argentine, who can’t swim well, Emiliano under the water.”
It comes a few days after the Ligue 1 outfit's defeat in the Coupe de France final by Nantes, Sala's former club. It is a twist on a song by Bordeaux and Nantes fans that pays tribute to the forward : “He’s an Argentine, who never gives up, Emiliano Sala, Emiliano Sala.”
And Nice have strongly condemned the actions of their own supporters, calling the chant "unthinkable and despicable."
The club said in a statement: “The club does not recognise at all its values nor those of the red and black family in this unthinkable and despicable provocation from a minority of its supporters.”
Nice manager Christophe Galtier slammed the minority of supporters in question. He said after the match: "I have no words to describe what I heard. One of the first reactions in the dressing room was not chanting or cries of joy, or relief. It was to speak about what the players had heard. In the name of my dressing room, of my technical and medical staff, from the players, we would like to offer our apologies to Emiliano Sala’s family and to FC Nantes."
He told L'Equipe, via French Football News : "You hear a lot of things in stadiums, but these people – and there weren’t just three of them – if they’re not happy, they can come to the training ground and I’ll say the same thing to them. We often say that what we see in stadiums is a reflection of society. If that’s what our society is, we are really in the s***! There were also insults towards Mrs [Stéphanie] Frappart. She’s not the one that made us lose the final. It’s surreal for me. I have no words. They need to stay at home. You cannot hear that in a stadium. If they’re coming to insult the dead, then they can stay at home!”
Nantes continues to be in dispute with Cardiff after the Bluebirds agreed to his £15million transfer in principle before Sala died while flying from France to South Wales on January 21. FIFA have recently ruled that Cardiff should pay the French club the full amount but the Welsh side appealed that decision to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A written judgment on the two-day hearing will be published at an unspecified date in the summer. Should CAS rule against Cardiff, they could go on to explore a case through the French courts.
