Cardiff City has officially moved to appeal a French court’s ruling that threw out their request for over £100m in damages related to the death of footballer Emiliano Sala. The 28-year-old Argentine forward and pilot David Ibbotson were killed in January 2019 when their Piper Malibu aircraft went down in the English Channel.
Sala was traveling to join Cardiff following a £15m transfer agreement with FC Nantes. In March, the Nantes commercial court rejected Cardiff’s assertion that they were entitled to compensation for lost revenue, arguing that Sala’s presence might have helped the team avoid relegation from the Premier League. Instead, the court ordered the Welsh club to cover roughly £400,000 in legal costs and damages to Nantes.
Cardiff had a three-month window to challenge the decision, and the club has now filed its intent to proceed. This appeal initiates a full retrial, which could span up to two years as the case undergoes a complete re-examination by the Court of Appeal in Rennes.
