,,Emiliano was the victim of the bad negotiations between Cardiff City and FC Nantes. The deal had to be settled as soon as possible,” said Mercedes Taffarel, mother of Emiliano Sala, who died on a plane in 2019. During the first session of the trial, some new details emerged.
The Sala family had to wait three long years for it, but yesterday Emiliano Sala’s five-week trial started. The Argentine striker was killed on January 21, 2019 when his plane crashed into the sea on its way from Nantes to Cardiff while crossing the Channel.
In the courtroom, the mother of ‘Emi’ was allowed to speak. She revealed that the days leading up to the transfer agreement were “very intense” and that her son “felt a tremendous amount of pressure” from both sides. He was, as it were, the center of a discussion between Cardiff City and FC Nantes. The then Premier League club from Wales wanted the transfer to be completed as soon as possible, while Nantes increasingly demanded more money.
Sala was loved in Nantes and he himself had enormous respect for the club and the supporters. However, he had to be sold in the winter of 2019. Not because of his achievements, but because Nantes was in debt. Sala was to be the most expensive transfer in the club’s history. He was given a price tag of 17.1 million euros (15 million pounds) and Cardiff City appeared willing to pay, in the hope that Sala could still save the club from relegation. ,,The coach didn’t want him to leave. He scored a lot and was well within the group. Emi thought it was time for a new adventure. Playing in England has always been a dream of his,” says his mother. Yet that dream never came true. The transfer was smooth sailing, but the plane crashed into the sea en route to South Wales. It was a long journey for the family. A search for the missing plane was immediately launched, but the situation seemed endless. That is why the official search was also stopped: ,,We couldn’t believe the decision. We then hired a private team to find our Emi.”
Recent research shows that carbon monoxide has been found in his blood, which could lead to possible poisoning. But the definitive cause of death was the head injuries after the final blow. The footballer’s body was only found a month after the crash. The body of pilot David Ibbotson is still missing to this day. The flight organizer, David Henderson, was recently sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The more it becomes clear about the case, the more negligence is found. The aircraft did not meet the correct requirements, the pilot was not licensed and the choice not to take a commercial flight is also seriously criticized. The family hopes the trial will bring justice: “We know we will never get our boy back, but he deserves justice so he can rest in peace. With this process, whatever the outcome, we hope that such incidents will never happen again.”
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