Transfer of Emiliano Sala from FC Nantes to Cardiff City F.C.

However, two days after the transfer was completed, Sala and 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson travelled via a private plane that disappeared over the English Channel, and an official search operation for the pair and the aircraft began immediately.

[4][5] Earlier in 2018, English team Brighton & Hove Albion had a bid accepted by Nantes in excess of €10m, before Sala rejected the opportunity,[6] and he also turned down a move to Chinese Super League club Beijing Renhe the following month.

[31] In 2021, Dalman would claim that Warnock had gone against the wishes of the board, who had refused to sanction the cost of the transfer, and gained direct permission from Cardiff owner Vincent Tan.

[32] At the behest of Kita,[33] Sala travelled to Cardiff on 14 January with his agent Meissa N'Diaye for a meeting with Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo,[34] described as "constructive" by Mark McKay, Nantes' acting representative in the transfer talks.

[15] At an inquest into his death in 2022, Sala's mother Mercedes Taffarel said that he had felt pressure from both clubs to complete the transfer, describing the duration of the negotiations as "very intense" in a written statement.

[52] In an e-mail leaked to the media soon after the transfer, it was shown that McKay had written to Sala for the first time on 6 January to inform him of his role in the transfer and the arrangements he could make,[53][54] while also informing Sala that he had generated fake interest from Premier League clubs West Ham United and Everton in order to raise the asking price, and therefore generate more money for all of the involved parties.

[77] South Wales Police received a complaint from Cardiff in early March, alleging McKay had threatened to "burn Cardiff" and "kill everybody" at the club, as well as confronting members of staff both in person and via telephone,[78][79] and threatening violence against Choo and player-liaison officer Callum Davies;[80] McKay confirmed to French sports newspaper L'Equipe that he had had an altercation with the pair.

[94] Questions which Cardiff wanted answers to included the reasoning behind Sala travelling in a private plane when the club had offered a commercial flight, and the involvement of agent Willie McKay.

[102][103] Manager Neil Warnock said that he was confident Cardiff were doing things "in the right way",[104] and acknowledged that attempts to buy further players had been set back after Sala's disappearance,[105][106] but admitted he had considered retirement from the sport.

[123] According to The Daily Telegraph, Cardiff also accused Nantes of failing to report Mark McKay's involvement to the FIFA Transfer Matching System.

[124][125] At the beginning of April, FIFA extended the deadline a further two weeks,[126] after Cardiff had written to Nantes to request a meeting to settle the matter directly, but had received no response.

[131] The files of evidence received the nickname of "The Onion" by Cardiff's lawyers,[132] a "toxic" detail which Barney Ronay of The Guardian explained was due to there being "so much information here, so many interested parties, so many layers... the more you peel it, the more it stinks".

[44] Cardiff quickly announced their intent to appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), stating that there was "clear evidence that the transfer agreement was never completed".

[141] FIFA's involvement was concluded on 4 November, when they ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes the first instalment within 45 days or face a transfer ban of three consecutive windows.

[144] CAS confirmed the appeals process had begun a month later, announcing it would take place in spring 2020,[145][146] but was delayed first in May 2020 and again in August, with no fixed hearing date set.

[155] In July, the McKays were accused of having an illegal double mandate in the transfer; firstly from Nantes to sell Sala, and secondly from West Ham United to purchase the player.

[159] Due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and undisclosed "technical reasons", both clubs agreed on multiple occasions to extend deadlines for filing their submissions ahead of a hearing with CAS.

[161] The hearing was closed from all third-party access,[162] and CAS confirmed to news agency PA Media that the arbitration panel would only issue their decision "at a later date".

[166] According to the newspaper South Wales Echo, Cardiff's case rested on two key components; whether the transfer fee was due, and were Nantes liable for Sala's death.

[169][170] In August 2022, CAS announced that they had dismissed Cardiff's appeal,[171] stating that the transfer had been completed at the time of Sala's death, and that Nantes' request for payment was upheld.

[175] Appearing on the BBC's Transfer podcast released following the conclusion of the CAS hearing, journalist David Conn described the row between the two clubs as "a stain on football's image, reputation and honour".

[198] Cardiff denied this in a statement released to the media afterwards, saying that the club were of the belief that "all players were insured from the moment they were signed, and the case arises from learning they were not".