French court dismisses Cardiff’s $138M claim against Nantes over Emiliano Sala's death

The court in the western French city ruled that the Ligue 1 club was 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. It ordered Cardiff to pay 300,000 euros in damages, plus an additional 180,000 euros for legal costs.

“Unfortunately, Cardiff has been pursuing us feverishly for seven years now, and it reopens this wound every time," said Jérôme Marsaudon, a lawyer for Nantes. "We are therefore very pleased with the court’s decision, which only confirms what we have been asserting for years. The court has stated it loud and clear and has condemned Cardiff to quite exemplary damages. FC Nantes is in no way responsible for the tragedy that occurred. We are pleased that the court has heard us.”

The 28-year-old Sala was signed by Cardiff from Nantes for a club-record fee of 17 million euros as it tried to stave off relegation from the lucrative Premier League. But the single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft the Argentine player was traveling in from France to begin his career with Cardiff crashed into the sea near the Channel Island of Guernsey. The pilot, David Ibbotson, also died.

After the crash, Cardiff disputed that the transfer deal with Nantes had been finalized. FIFA ruled it had received the required international registration forms.

The businessman who organized the flight was found guilty of endangering the safety of an aircraft in 2021. David Henderson, the aircraft operator who arranged the flight, had asked Ibbotson to fly the plane as he was away on holiday. Ibbotson, who regularly flew for Henderson, did not hold a commercial pilot’s license or a qualification to fly at night, and his rating to fly the Piper Malibu had expired.

Ahead of the hearing at the commercial court last year, Cardiff said it wanted Nantes to be held accountable for “the faults committed” by Willie McKay, a football agent who had helped arrange the flight. Cardiff argued that he acted on behalf of Nantes, with the French club denying any wrongdoing.

The court found that McKay served as an agent for Nantes, but that he did not organize the flight and was not aware of the illegality of the flight.

“It’s difficult to understand how the court considers that Willie McKay did not organize the flight, given that he himself said that he did," said Céline Jones, a lawyer for Cardiff. “It’s difficult to understand how the tribunal considers that he did not know of the illegality of the flight given he organized it in a six-minute phone call, and agreed to pay this flight in cash.”

Jones was accompanied by Sala’s mother, Mercedes Taffarel, as she spoke outside the courtroom.

“I think Mercedes’ reaction speaks for itself. There’s not been any justice and I think that’s difficult for the family at this stage,” Jones said. “I can tell the Cardiff fans that the club did what it considered was right. It tried as hard as it could to seek justice and has not been successful in obtaining it yet."

Cardiff was relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2018-19 season and currently competes in the third tier of the English football league system.

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Petrequin reported from London.