2019-03-01 World Soccer

eyewitness

should have received the first payment

by the end of January, but by early

February nothing had arrived. It was this

lack of payment that prompted Nantes to

contact Cardiff on February 6, giving the

Welsh club 10 days to settle the bill, while

apparently threatening legal action if the

sum wasn’t transferred.

In the short piece in L’Équipe, Dalman

claimed that it would be inappropriate to

comment on the demand while a body^

in the plane’s wreckage – at the time

unidentified – had yet to be recovered.

For their part, Nantes turned to two

lawyers to study the affair with a view

to taking legal action also involving

FIFA if payment wasn’t forthcoming.

So why are Cardiff reluctant to cede

this first payment to Nantes? According

to the French press the Welsh outfit are

themselves investigating whether there

has been negligence on the part of those

involved in organising the fatal flight and,

if so, to establish what responsibility each

party should bear. This in itself doesn’t

seem unreasonable given the fees

involved and the fact that Sala didn’t

make a single appearance for the club.

The fee for the player was €17m, but

including agents’ commissions, bonuses

and three years of salary the total figure

is estimated at around double that sum.

According to France Football, Cardiff’s

insurance covering the deal only runs

to half that amount. If that’s true, Cardiff

stand to lose €17m on the deal, so under

these circumstances it’s hardly surprising

that the club want some legal clarification

before handing any money over.

For their part, Nantes have legal

responsibilities towards another club,

Bordeaux, the first French team Sala

joined, in 2010, at the age of 20.

When Bordeaux sold the Argentinian

to Nantes in July 2015 they inserted

a 50 per cent sell-on clause into the

deal, which means they are now entitled

to €8.5m from the selling club.

Despite initial newspaper reports

in France that Bordeaux had asked for

the money, the club issued an official

statement on January 27 denying that

this was the case.

What’s more, it’s also been reported

that the Argentinian clubs and academies

where Sala started his career are also

entitled to five per cent of the fee.

Of course, all these issues of money

will need to be sorted in the end. But it’s

also important to remember that there

have been huge outpourings of genuine

grief over Sala’s death.

Both Cardiff City manager Neil

Warnock and Nantes boss Vahid

Halilhodzic were reduced to tears

by the events, Nantes have retired

Sala’s number nine shirt and Paris

Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe

donated €60,000 to the searches for

Sala and pilot Ibbotson.

Nantes sold all their remaining tickets

for the club’s game against Nimes on

February 10 at €9 and wore a black kit

emblazoned with Sala’s name in order

to pay homage to their former player

in a full stadium.

Both Cardiff manager Neil Warnock

and Nantes boss Vahid Halilhodzic

were reduced to tears by events

Grief...Cardiff’s

Neil Warnock

Remembered...Sala

scored 48 goals in 133

games for Nantes