A commercial court in Nantes will on Monday begin hearing Cardiff City’s claim for more than £100m in damages over the death of Emiliano Sala, almost seven years after the striker and pilot David Ibbotson died in a plane crash while travelling from France to join the Premier League club.
Sala, 28, had been announced as Cardiff’s record signing on 19 January 2019 after a £15m agreement with Nantes. Two days later, he and Ibbotson were killed when their aircraft went down in the English Channel near Guernsey. The flight was later found to have been unlicensed, with organiser David Henderson convicted in October 2021 of endangering the safety of an aircraft and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The tragedy has been followed by years of legal disputes between the two clubs. Cardiff initially refused to pay the first instalment of the transfer fee, prompting world governing body Fifa to order payment. The Welsh club appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but with CAS upholding Fifa’s ruling, Cardiff paid the fee in full by early 2023.
In April 2024 Cardiff filed a claim at Nantes commercial court seeking €120.2m, which they argue reflects financial and reputational losses incurred by their relegation from the Premier League in 2019. Evidence submitted includes a statistical report from FC Analytics that Cardiff say shows Sala could have increased their chances of staying up by as much as 62 per cent.
Cardiff’s case centres on the assertion that football agent Willie McKay was acting on behalf of Nantes when he arranged the flight via Henderson. Cardiff say Sala had been offered a commercial flight but chose to stay longer in Nantes to say his farewells. McKay has previously said he was assisting his son Mark, who was acting as the agent in the deal, and chartered the flight, while Nantes have consistently denied that Willie McKay represented them.
The club reached an out of court agreement with Willie McKay in February 2024 over the disclosure of emails and documents. Cardiff argue those messages link McKay’s involvement to Nantes and therefore establish the French club’s responsibility for the flight and its financial consequences.
Fifa’s insistence that Cardiff pay the transfer fee rested on the contractual completion of the deal. CAS later said it did not have the jurisdiction to consider matters such as responsibility for the flight or potential damages, a position upheld by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Cardiff believe this hearing will be the first time a judge considers the conduct of all parties involved in the transfer.
The case will be heard by consular judges, who are business professionals rather than career lawyers, and Cardiff opted to bring the claim in France to avoid issues around jurisdiction.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 16:00 GMT. No witnesses will be called, with judges already having reviewed the evidence. Both legal teams will present their cases before the judges retire to reach a verdict on liability and, if necessary, the scale of any damages. Even if Cardiff succeed, they may only be awarded a portion of the amount sought.
Although the hearing itself may be brief, a judgement is not expected for several months, potentially not before March. Either side would then have the option to appeal. Nearly seven years after Sala’s transfer, Monday’s session is seen by both clubs as a significant step towards a conclusion in a case that has long overshadowed the striker’s memory.
