Cardiff City are reportedly seeking more than £100-million (about R2-billion) in compensation from Nantes over the tragic death of Emiliano Sala in a plane crash in 2019.
Neil Warnock’s Cardiff were relegated from the Premier League in the same season that they had agreed to sign Sala.
The 29-year-old died en route to Wales where he was meant to complete his £15-million move after the single-piston engine Piper Malibu aircraft he was in crashed into the English Channel.
The club have now enlisted the services of Analytics FC to calculate the expected points gain had Sala played for them during the second half of the campaign.
According to L’Equipe, Cardiff will present an invoice of £104-million at the Nantes Commercial Court after data analysis predicted that with Sala on their team, they would have had a 54.2% chance of avoiding relegation.
The French club have reportedly launched a counterclaim demanding that Cardiff are fined. Their case is based on “moral damage” in response to the Welsh club’s relegation and “reputational damage” charge.
Sala averaged a goal every three matches for Nantes in the French league and was tipped by many to perform well in the Premier League.
However, at the time of his death, Cardiff argued to Fifa that he had not yet registered with them, and they withheld the first instalment of their transfer fee.
The footballing body later ruled that the transfer was indeed complete. Cardiff was then placed under a transfer embargo for non-payment before owner Vincent Tan paid the amount in full, eventually resulting in the ban being lifted.
Pictured above: Emiliano Sala
Image source: @deadlinedaylive
