French court rejects Cardiff’s $138 million claim against Nantes over Emiliano Sala’s death

A commercial court in France has rejected claims by Welsh club Cardiff City for damages for the death of footballer Emiliano Sala.

Seven years after the plane crash that killed Sala, Cardiff are still demanding more than 120 million euros ($138 million) from the player’s former team Nantes after a series of previous legal setbacks s9jsKL.

Rulings by FIFA, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Supreme Court have ruled against Cardiff in the legal dispute with Nantes since Sala died in January 2019.

Sala, 28, was signed by Cardiff from Nantes for a club record fee of €17 million in a bid to avoid relegation from the lucrative Premier League. But the single-engine Piper Malibu plane on which the Argentine player was traveling from France crashed into the sea near the Channel Island of Guernsey. The pilot, David Ibbotson, also died.

The court ruled that Nantes was not at fault in relation to the flight and that Cardiff suffered no reputational damage. It added that Nantes had suffered moral damages and ordered Cardiff to pay 300,000 euros.

Published on March 30, 2026