Cardiff pay Nantes first instalment of Emiliano Sala transfer fee

The first payment comes four years after Sala's tragic death

Cardiff City have paid the first instalment of their £15m transfer fee for Emiliano Sala to Nantes. Sala died in a plane crash in January 2019 when he was travelling from France to Cardiff. FIFA imposed a three-window transfer embargo because Cardiff initially refused to pay the transfer fee however the Bluebirds have now paid the first instalment, which amounts to £7m. The Championship club are now expecting football's world governing body to lift the embargo after revealing in August that they had been placed under a transfer embargo for failing to pay the first instalment. They also lost their appeal against the case, with FIFA ruling that: "A three-man panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) heard the appeal in Lausanne earlier this year." Last month Cardiff chairman, Mehmet Dalman, confirmed that the club had received an invoice from Nantes to pay the first instalment of £3.5m for the transfer. Dalman also revealed that other legal proceedings were taking place. Additionally, Cardiff have also appealed the CAS hearing verdict to a Swiss Federal Court while they await for the outcome of the contention. Cardiff had argued that Sala was not officially their player when the 28-year-old died while travelling from France to join the then-Premier League club. Related links:

• Pilot of Emiliano Sala flight said plane was ‘dodgy’ prior to take off
• Emiliano Sala case: a timeline of key events
• Emiliano Sala: David Henderson sentenced to 18 months in prison over plane crash deaths