Cardiff City’s claims for compensation in excess of £100m following the death of player Emiliano Sala have been dismissed by a commercial court in France.
Sala and a pilot, David Ibbotson, were both killed in a plane crash in the English Channel in January 2019. Ibbotson was flying Sala from Nantes to join Cardiff, who were then in the Premier League, after the two clubs had agreed a transfer fee for the player.
Cardiff, who were relegated from the Premier League that season and have subsequently dropped to League One, were claiming more than £100m for loss of income and other damages, based on the belief that Sala could have kept the club in the Premier League.
Cardiff’s contention was that Nantes were responsible because they enlisted agent Willie McKay – whose son, Mark McKay, was Sala’s representative – to arrange the flight. Nantes denied that claim.
However, in a ruling issued on Monday, more than seven years after the plane crash that killed the Argentine forward, the claims were dismissed by a judge at Nantes Commercial Court, with Cardiff ordered to pay more than £400,000 to the French club.
The court ruled that Nantes were not at fault in relation to the flight and that Cardiff did not suffer reputational damages.
It added that Cardiff’s “extravagant claims” had already been ruled on by other courts and that Nantes suffered moral damage.
Cardiff issued a statement which read: “We deeply regret that the court did not recognise Nantes’ liability in this tragedy.
“We initiated these proceedings so that the full truth of this case could come to light, in respect of Emiliano Sala’s memory.
“Today, we note with bitterness that the principles of transparency, integrity and safety in professional football have not prevailed in this decision.”
Willie McKay did not comment on the specifics of the case when contacted by Sky Sports News. Instead, he said he hopes the decision of the French court brings closure for everyone involved, and his thoughts and condolences remain with the families of the two men who lost their lives.
In a separate process, Cardiff were ordered by football’s global governing body FIFA to pay Nantes the three instalments of the transfer fee agreed for Sala before the Argentinian’s death, totalling €15m (£13m).
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Nantes’ claim related to the payment of the first instalment in August 2022, while Cardiff announced in June 2023 that they had been ordered to pay the remaining two instalments by FIFA as well.
A criminal case was heard and resulted in the conviction in 2021 of David Henderson, who was found guilty of recklessly endangering the safety of an aircraft as he was the person who had organised the flight carrying Sala.
Henderson was sentenced to 18 months in prison after it emerged he did not have an air operator’s certificate, which anyone operating a flight carrying paying passengers must have.
Henderson also selected Ibbotson, who did not hold a commercial licence to carry passengers nor was flight-rated to operate a plane at night, to pilot the plane.
