Fifa contact City about Sala dispute
FOOTBALL governing body Fifa has made contact with Cardiff City over the ongoing Emiliano Sala £15m transfer fee dispute with Nantes.
The Bluebirds said they welcomed the latest development in the ongoing row.
Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were both travelling in a light aircraft from Nantes towards Cardiff when it crashed into the English Channel on January 21.
The following dispute between the two football clubs centres around whether Sala was a Cardiff or Nantes player at the time of the tragic plane journey, with the matter previously having been referred to Fifa.
President Gianni Infantino has previously suggested he hoped the two clubs would come to an agreement themselves.
Cardiff have always insisted that certain conditions of the deal to bring the Argentine striker to the Welsh capital had not been met, and that they are not responsible for paying the club record £15m fee.
As such they have not made any interim payments.
Now, Fifa has made contact with Cardiff.
A Cardiff City spokesperson said: “CCFC can confirm it has received communication from Fifa, with whom they have been in discussion throughout the process.
“We welcome this latest contact and will continue to work with them closely. We are not going to discuss the specifics any further at this stage.”
A spokesperson for Fifa told us: “We can confirm that a letter was sent to the parties on behalf of the chairman of the players’ status committee.
“Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage.”
Reports yesterday morning had suggested a deadline of this Thursday – September 5 – was set for the two clubs to come to an agreement before Fifa makes its own ruling on the matter, but we have since been told that is not the case.
After the aircraft was located, Sala’s body was recovered on February 6, while Mr Ibbotson remains unaccounted for.
The most recent report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said Sala had “potentially fatal” levels of carbon monoxide in his system, with Mr Ibbotson likely to have been affected.