French Court Dismisses Cardiff's €120M Sala Claim

A French commercial court in Nantes has dismissed Cardiff City's claim for more than 120 million euros in compensation from FC Nantes over the 2019 death of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, ruling that the French club bore no responsibility for the plane crash that killed him.

The decision, issued on Monday, comes more than seven years after the single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft carrying the 28-year-old Sala crashed into the English Channel near the island of Guernsey on January 21, 2019. Sala, who had recently signed with Cardiff for a club-record fee of 17 million euros, was en route from Nantes to join his new team in the English Premier League. The pilot, David Ibbotson, also perished in the accident. The crash occurred as Cardiff fought to avoid relegation from the top flight, a battle the club ultimately lost at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Cardiff had argued that Nantes should be held accountable for the circumstances surrounding the flight, including the involvement of football agent Willie McKay, who helped arrange the travel. The Welsh club contended that McKay acted on behalf of Nantes and contributed to the unsafe journey. Nantes denied any wrongdoing,...