Cardiff call on police, Fifa and FA to investigate murky Emiliano Sala transfer as Bluebirds demand answers from Nantes
SunSport reveals the list of explosive questions the Bluebirds want answered before paying Nantes the £15million transfer fee
CARDIFF want police to investigate the murky £15million transfer of Emiliano Sala.
The Bluebirds are also calling for Fifa and the FA to launch their own probes into the circumstances around Sala’s tragic death.
SunSport reveals the list of explosive questions they want answered before paying Nantes the transfer fee.
In the spirit of openness and transparency, Cardiff have written to the French club to come clean over Sala’s transfer.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman last week hinted heavily at some inconsistencies and concerns with elements of the deal.
Now the Welsh outfit want comprehensive answers to a list of questions that are with the French club.
The striker died when the single-engined plane ferrying him across the English Channel to Cardiff crashed into the sea on January 21.
Sala’s funeral took place on Saturday in his hometown of Progreso, Argentina. Pilot David Ibbotson has still not been found.
Among the questions Cardiff want answered before they pay Nantes the controversial transfer fee are:
1. Was Sala a Nantes player when he stepped on to the fatal flight?
2. Who arranged the flight and why did that person put him on a single-engine plane at night in difficult conditions, without adequate emergency apparatus?
3. Who took the decision to put Sala on the plane?
4. Why won’t the owner of the aircraft come forward?
5. Was the plane licenced to take commercial passengers?
6. Was pilot David Ibbotson in possession of a licence to carry passengers?
7. Was Sala third-party owned?
8. Are Sala’s previous club Bordeaux due 50 per cent of the transfer fee as part of a sell-on clause negotiated when he moved to Nantes in 2015?
9. What was transfer broker Willie McKay’s cut?
10. Was McKay’s commission, or part of the transfer fee, due to be split between other parties involved in the deal and, if so, to who?
Emiliano Sala transfer timeline
DECEMBER 5, 2018
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock first reveals his interest in signing Emiliano Sala, 28, after travelling to France to watch the striker play for Nantes against Marseille. Sala scored in a 3-2 win for the Ligue 1 side.
JANUARY 19, 2019
Sala joins Cardiff City on a 3½-year deal for a club record transfer fee of £15million — completing his medical in Wales before flying back home to Nantes.
JANUARY 21, 2019
The single-turbine engine Piper PA-46 Malibu leaves Nantes at 7.15pm for Cardiff. An air and sea search is launched at 8.50pm after the plane disappears from radar in the English Channel.
JANUARY 22, 2019
French civil aviation authority confirms Argentinian footballer Sala was on board the doomed light aircraft heading back to Wales.
JANUARY 24, 2019
After more than 24 hours of continuous searching, with 80 hours combined flying time across three planes and five helicopters, the search is officially called off.
JANUARY 27, 2019
Relatives and friends of Sala arrive in Guernsey, having enlisted the help of shipwreck hunting expert David Mearns.
FEBRUARY 3, 2019
Wreckage of the plane is located in a fresh, privately funded search which was made possible after a fundraising campaign saw more than £260,000 donated.
FEBRUARY 7, 2019
After locating a body the day before, Dorset Police confirms that the body recovered from the plane is that of Sala.
FEBRUARY 16, 2019
Sala’s funeral takes place in Progreso in Argentina, with Cardiff boss Neil Warnock and CEO Ken Choo in attendance.
Cardiff were hit with a demand by Nantes on February 6 to pay the first instalment on the transfer fee.
Although the Premier League strugglers have made it clear they are willing to pay up, they want Nantes to come clean over the precise details of the transfer before that happens.
Senior Cardiff executives have expressed serious concerns over the method of transport used to fly Sala from Nantes across the English Channel on that fateful night.
In keeping with all new signings from overseas, Cardiff chiefs had sent Sala a text with some British Airways flight options.
The club insist they acted with the player’s best interests at heart at all times and in good faith.
They remain mystified as to why Sala boarded the doomed Piper PA-46 Malibu.
There is also only partial clarification over agent McKay’s role in Sala’s decision to accept his offer to fly him to Cardiff.
According to the Bluebirds, at no point did they expect McKay to bill them for the flight that he organised with the help of his son Jack, a Cardiff player who is currently on loan at Chesterfield.
Cardiff remain mystified why McKay did not spend around £5,000 to hire a private jet to take him to Wales.
They also want to know whether Nantes have breached stringent Fifa regulations in relation to third- party ownership.
Although they accept McKay was being paid a commission by Nantes to get the deal done, there are a number of other agents hovering in the background.
Cardiff have concerns that the other parties may have had a financial interest in the striker — a clear breach of Fifa regulations.
They have asked Nantes for clarification and a precise breakdown of the commissions due to various intermediaries.
As is usual with transfers, Cardiff agreed to pay Sala’s official agent Meissa N’Diaye a commission based on his client’s contract and in line with FA recommendations.
Cardiff were also stunned by McKay’s revelations in French newspaper L’Equipe.
He admitted artificially inflating Sala’s transfer fee by inventing interest in the media from West Ham and Everton.
The Bluebirds have exchanged information with those clubs for clarification and it is understood they both maintain they had no interest in signing him at any stage.
Cardiff eventually went ahead with the deal after lengthy discussions with manager Neil Warnock and the club’s transfer committee.
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Warnock had been to France to watch Sala play for Nantes and seemed convinced he could be the player to save them from relegation.
Even though Warnock only met Sala twice, he spoke warmly about the forward at his funeral.
Cardiff have also made it clear throughout this difficult period that they have always put the interests of the player first.
They were due to invest a substantial amount of money in the striker and maintain their requests for information from Nantes are reasonable.
Now the pressure is on the French club to provide the answers.