Emiliano Sala: Cardiff to challenge Fifa’s ruling over £5.3m payment to Nantes

Cardiff City have decided to appeal against Fifa’s ruling that they must pay the first instalment of 6m euros (£5.3m) to Nantes for £15m striker Emiliano Sala.

The Bluebirds will challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Emiliano Sala died when the plane he was in with pilot David Ibbotson crashed in the English Channel en route from Nantes to Cardiff on 21 January.

The Argentine, who was 28, died in a plane crash in January while travelling from France to join his new club.

Cardiff and Nantes have since been in dispute over fee payments.

Cardiff have argued they were not liable for any of the full £15m fee because Sala was not officially their player when he died.

The club refused to make interim payments, claiming the deal was not legally binding.

BBC Sport has also learned that the second instalment of the £15m fee agreed for Sala is due to be paid in January 2020.

Nantes argued that having signed with Cardiff, Sala’s contract with Nantes was over and that he had become a Cardiff player.

Cardiff recruited Sala while they were in the Premier League and have since been relegated to the Championship.

The Bluebirds believe the transfer was null and void, saying the Premier League had rejected certain clauses requested by Nantes in the original contract and that Sala never had a chance to review or sign the final version, meaning their record signing was not registered as a Premier League player.

The plane carrying Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, crashed in the English Channel on 21 January, two days after the player’s transfer was announced.

The footballer’s body was recovered from the wreckage, but Ibbotson, from Crowle, North Lincolnshire, has still not been found.

Sala was exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide prior to the crash, a report later revealed – bbc.com