Championship club Cardiff City, announced on Friday that they have been mandated by FIFA to pay Nantes the second and third installments of the Emiliano Sala transfer fee.
Sala, an Argentine striker, was traveling to Cardiff when his plane crashed in the English Channel, killing both him and the pilot. Sala was headed to Cardiff after his 17m euros ($18.55m) transfer from the Ligue 1 team.
FIFA instructed Cardiff to pay the first six million euro installment of the transfer cost agreed upon before to Sala’s death.
The club now wants the remaining installments postponed due to an investigation into the French club.
What Cardiff Said
“Yesterday the CEO of FC Nantes, Franck Kita, was placed into police custody alongside (agents) Bakari Sanogo and Joaquim Batica by the JIRS, French prosecutors specialised in organised crime and financial crime,” Cardiff said in a statement.
“The club’s negligence claim in France against FC Nantes exhibits direct exchanges showing Mr Kita was informing Mr Sanogo of the proposed transfer fee for Emiliano Sala.
“It is not clear why.
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“In the circumstances, the club considers that it would have been fairer if the requirement to pay Nantes had been deferred until the conclusion of the French police investigations and the club’s claim against Nantes in the French courts.”
Cardiff said they were taking further legal action against Nantes in May, after the Swiss Federal Tribunal decided the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) had no jurisdiction to deal with their claim for damages over Sala’s transfer.
In August last year, CAS had dismissed Cardiff’s appeal against a FIFA decision ordering them to pay the first instalment of his transfer fee.
Meanwhile, Cardiff were relegated at the end of the 2018-19 season after finishing 18th and have not gained promotion back to the top flight since.
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