Nearly seven years after Emiliano Sala's death in a private plane crash over the English Channel, the case continues to poison relations between FC Nantes and Cardiff City. This time, the question is no longer simply whether the transfer was legally valid, but whether the Nantes club can bear any civil responsibility for the tragedy. The Nantes Commercial Court has set March 30th as the date for its decision, following a substantive hearing held on December 8th, 2025.
Cardiff brings out the big guns: €122,2 million for a “total loss”
The Welsh club initiated this civil procedure in May 2023, after its appeals to the sporting tribunal failed. Its central argument is clear: Nantes, through the transfer environment and the role attributed to intermediary Willie McKay, contributed to the chain of events that led to the fatal flight. Cardiff now estimates its damages at €122,2 million, taking into account not only the loss of the player, but also the sporting, economic, and reputational consequences, including relegation from the Premier League to the Championship.
The heart of the accusation: the lingering shadow of Willie McKay
At the heart of the case, one question dominates: who was truly pulling the strings behind the scenes of this transfer and Sala's journey? Cardiff maintains that Willie McKay, presented as a key player in the negotiations, could not have been unaware of the irregularities surrounding the private flight taken by the Argentinian striker. The Welsh club's lawyers argue that, without this disputed arrangement, Sala would never have boarded the aircraft. This line of defense aims to portray the tragedy not as a simple accident unrelated to the transfer, but as the consequence of a series of oversights linked to the operation itself.
Nantes denies any wrongdoing and denounces a legal offensive without solid basis
On the other side, FC Nantes categorically denies any responsibility. The club asserts that Willie McKay was not its official representative in this transaction and points out that the intermediary formally authorized to negotiate in the Premier League was Mark McKay, Willie's son. Nantes' defense believes that Cardiff is trying to exploit a human tragedy for legal and financial gain. At the December hearing, FC Nantes' lawyers described the opposing valuation as “phantasmagorical” and in turn claimed €1 million in damages for moral prejudice, citing the harm done to the club's reputation. Nantes also points out that, in the UK criminal case, David Henderson, the organizer of the flight, is the only person mentioned as having been convicted in this aspect of the case.
Regarding the transfer, the battle is already almost lost for Cardiff.
This is the paradox of the case: on strictly contractual grounds, the sports courts have already largely ruled in favor of Nantes. In August 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed that Emiliano Sala's transfer to Cardiff had indeed been finalized before his death and validated the payment of the first installment of €6 million out of a total transfer fee of €17 million. CAS also ruled that Cardiff's claim for damages fell outside FIFA's jurisdiction in this case. In 2023, according to Reuters, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court confirmed that CAS lacked jurisdiction to rule on Cardiff's claim for compensation, prompting the Welsh club to take the case to the French civil courts. That same year, FIFA also ordered Cardiff to pay the final two installments, amounting to just over €11 million.
The real verdict, now, will concern responsibility.
This is the crux of the ruling expected this Monday: no longer to revisit the validity of the transfer, already decided on sporting grounds, but to determine whether FC Nantes committed a civil wrong that could entitle them to substantial compensation. In other words, the court will not simply decide who must pay what; it will determine whether this case falls under a standard commercial dispute or involves a much more serious liability, one that could have significant repercussions for football law and the role of intermediaries in international transfers.
