Verdict on Cardiff City’s Sala negligence case against Nantes due in March

A French court will deliver its verdict next spring in Cardiff City’s long-running negligence claim against FC Nantes over the death of striker Emiliano Sala nearly seven years ago.

The commercial court in Nantes confirmed on Monday that judgment will be handed down on 30 March, following a hearing in which lawyers for both clubs set out competing arguments over responsibility for the fatal flight.

Cardiff City are seeking more than €120m (£104m) in damages, covering Sala’s £15m transfer fee—agreed just days before his death—and losses the club says it suffered as a result of the tragedy, including the financial impact of relegation from the Premier League.

Sala, 28, died on 21 January 2019 when the light aircraft taking him from Nantes to Cardiff crashed into the English Channel. Pilot David Ibbotson was also killed.

Cardiff argue that Nantes are liable because the flight was arranged by agent Willie McKay, whom they claim was acting on behalf of the French club. The club’s lawyer, Olivier Loizon, told the court that McKay “could not have been unaware of the illegality of the flight,” and described his involvement as “negligence”.

“Whatever the ultimate cause of the accident, [Sala] should not have been on the flight,” Loizon said, maintaining that Nantes’ agent was responsible for organising travel that did not meet aviation regulations.

Nantes strongly rejected the allegation, insisting Willie McKay had no formal role in the transfer. Their lawyer Jérôme Marsaudon said the only agent authorised by the club was McKay’s son, Mark, and described Cardiff’s case as “a genuine legal farce”.

‘Sad’

“It is sad to see that Cardiff have exploited this tragedy,” Marsaudon told the court, adding that “nothing in this case justifies holding FC Nantes liable.”

The dispute is one of several legal battles between the clubs since the accident. In 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Sala’s transfer had been definitively completed before his death.

The following year, FIFA ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes the outstanding balance of the €17m transfer fee, around €11m.