February 21 – Cardiff and Nantes have agreed to extend the deadline on the first instalment of the €17.25 million transfer fee owed for Emiliano Sala until February 27, hopefully ending what threatened to become a bitter dispute at a highly sensitive time.
Cardiff had been asked to make the first tranche of €6m to Nantes on February 20th, but it’s understood that the clubs have agreed a delay of one week.
Sala, 28, was Cardiff’s record signing but never played for the club after he tragically lost his life in the light aircraft carrying him to his new club crashed into the English Channel on January 21.
Sala’s body was recovered from the crash site and his funeral took place in Argentina on February 16.
Nantes wrote to Cardiff on February 5 with a request for the first of three instalments to be paid. Cardiff said then they were withholding payment while seeking “clarification” on details of the accident and want to wait until crash investigations are complete.
An added complication is that Bordeaux are due 50% of the fee because of a sell-on clause when they sold Sala to Nantes in 2015.
If next week’s deadline is not met, then the dispute could be end up at FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber (DRC).
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