CAS rejects Cardiff appeal over Sala transfer fee

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday dismissed an appeal by Cardiff against having to pay the first instalment of the transfer fee for Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane accident.

CAS threw out the appeal filed by the former English Premier League club against French side Nantes, after being ordered to pay the first instalment of six million euros ($6 million).

The CAS proceedings only concerned the first instalment of the 17-million-euro total transfer fee.

Flown by pilot David Ibbotson, the small plane carrying the 28-year-old striker came down in the Channel en route to Cardiff on January 21, 2019, two days after he completed his transfer.

On September 25 that year, the Bureau of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee ordered Cardiff to pay the first part of the transfer fee.

Cardiff appealed to CAS in November 2019. The parties requested the hearing be held in person, which was not possible before the end of 2021.

The hearings took place on March 3 and 4 this year.

“After taking into due consideration all the evidence produced and all the arguments put forward by both clubs, the CAS panel found the player’s transfer from FC Nantes to Cardiff City FC to have been completed,” CAS said in its decision.

“Because the conditions set out in the transfer agreement were fulfilled prior to the player’s death, FC Nantes’ claim for the first instalment of the transfer fee in the amount of six million euros was upheld.”