Emiliano Sala: Cardiff City to challenge Nantes fee for deceased player in French courts
- Published
Cardiff announced the club-record signing of Emiliano Sala on 19 January, 2019, two days before the plane he was on went missing
Cardiff City's legal dispute over the Emiliano Sala transfer looks set to head to the French courts.
A Swiss Federal Tribunal decided the Court of Arbitration for Sport does not have the power to deal with the club's claim for damages against FC Nantes.
Now the Championship outfit say they will go ahead with other legal action against the French club.
Sala died in a plane crash over the English channel in January 2019, while travelling from France to join Cardiff.
World football governing body Fifa originally imposed a three-window transfer embargo after Cardiff's failure to pay the first instalment of the £15m fee they had agreed with Nantes for the Argentine forward.
Cardiff failed in their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the Fifa ruling and in January paid the first instalment, believed to be around £7m, of the Sala fee to Nantes. Fifa then lifted the transfer embargo.
The Bluebirds had claimed they were not liable for any of the fee because Sala was not officially their player when he died aged 28.
After the CAS verdict, Cardiff also went to the Swiss Federal Tribunal over a point of law.
A Cardiff City statement said: "The Swiss Federal Tribunal has decided the Court of Arbitration for Sport does not have jurisdiction to deal with Cardiff City's claim for damages against FC Nantes.
"This is not a surprise and the club has already prepared separate legal action against them which will be started straight away."
Cardiff maintain that "FC Nantes must be held responsible for the accident" which they allege was "organised by their agent".
The Welsh club added the legal action will be to "recover what the club paid for Emiliano and additional damages for further consequential losses".