Sala compensation hearing opens in Cardiff's dispute with Nantes

A tribunal session regarding the ongoing conflict between Cardiff City and the French team Nantes concerning compensation for Emiliano Sala's tragic death in an aircraft accident six years back began on Monday.

The 28 year old Argentine forward perished when the small plane transporting him to the Welsh city crashed into the English Channel on 21 January 2019, just two days following his agreement to join the club that was in the Premier League at the time. Both he and the pilot lost their lives.

In 2023, the Welsh outfit brought the matter before the commercial court in Nantes seeking redress for revenue shortfalls and additional harms experienced by the team due to the athlete's passing.

The proceedings commenced on Monday, with legal representatives from each side set to present their arguments later in the day.

"This session represents a further advancement in revealing the facts and promoting greater responsibility within the sport. The matter focuses on safeguarding the sport's standards, not undermining it," stated Cardiff in a release issued on Sunday.

The Welsh team contends that Nantes, via their agent Willie McKay, arranged the charter flight carrying the player and that, given the Court of Arbitration for Sport's determination that the move was complete during the incident, the flight's coordination forms the core concern.

Based on an evaluation by a specialist selected by Cardiff City, the team calculated their financial setbacks to exceed 120 million euros ($139.5 million).

Nantes rejects "any form of misconduct, any connection between potential misconduct and the claimed losses, along with the losses in question", according to a spokesperson for owner Waldemar Kita ahead of the session.

The team, the spokesperson continued, "is confident that Cardiff's demands will be dismissed completely, similar to previous ones".

In a linked legal matter involving the two teams, the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided in 2022 that the player's transfer was fully executed when he died.

In 2023, FIFA mandated that Cardiff settle the remaining portion of the transfer payment to Nantes, amounting to slightly more than 11 million euros from an overall 17 million euros.