A French court has rejected Cardiff City FC’s latest attempt to get compensation from Nantes FC, over a footballer who died in a plane crash near Alderney in January 2019.
Argentinian striker Emiliano Sala was flying to Wales to begin his life as a Premiership player, after saying goodbye to his Nantes teammates, when his plane – which was later found to be flying illegally – crashed in the Channel.
The Welsh club were seeking more than €120m (£104m) in lost revenue, claiming that Sala would have kept them from being relegated from the Premier League that year.
Cardiff claimed that Sala’s agent, Willie McKay, was working on behalf of Nantes when he organised the grey charter.
However, Nantes said Mr McKay was not licensed as an agent at the time, and was acting on behalf of his son Mark McKay – who was an agent – without their knowledge or approval.
The court sided with Nantes and ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes €480,000 (£417,000) in damages and legal costs.