Emiliano Sala: Cardiff City court action against Nantes to begin

There has been a dispute between Cardiff and Nantes stretching back to the immediate aftermath of the crash, with the Welsh club initially refusing to pay the first instalment of the transfer fee until investigations into accountability had taken place.

The row eventually led to football world governing body Fifa ordering Cardiff to pay – and the Bluebirds appealing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

With CAS upholding Fifa’s ruling, Cardiff paid the first instalment in January 2023 – ending an English Football League (EFL) transfer embargo in the process – and subsequently paying the remaining balance.

But the football club have always maintained they were prepared to take further action and in April 2024 lodged a complaint with Nantes commercial court, seeking damages of 120.2m euros (£104m).

The estimate for damages stems from the claimed financial and reputational losses represented by Cardiff’s relegation from the Premier League in 2019.

Cardiff’s team will present evidence from court-approved experts, including a statistical report compiled by football data company FC Analytics, that the club says shows Sala could have given them as much as a 62% greater chance of staying in the Premier League in that 2018-19 season.

In terms of the amount of damages, the sum Cardiff are seeking is based on independent analysis of the loss of income that followed relegation, the subsequent impact on the club’s overall value, as well as the original transfer fee.

Nantes did not respond to approaches for comment but have previously disputed Cardiff’s claim. Their position is said to be unchanged.