Flowers and tributes are placed near a giant picture of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala outside the FC Nantes training camp. Photo / AP
Flowers and tributes are placed near a giant picture of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala outside the FC Nantes training camp. Photo / AP
Cardiff City could launch a negligence claim over the Emiliano Sala plane disaster as the club face a financial loss of around £14 million even after insurance payouts.
Senior figures at the club are increasingly concerned about the decision to fly their record signing across the English Channel in asingle-engined plane built in 1984 piloted by a part-time gas engineer.
Cardiff are now considering their legal position as they face a three-year contract bill estimated by accountants at £30 million, including a £2.5 million agents' fee. Accident insurance is likely to cover only half the forecasted loss. One source said payments from Cardiff to Nantes had been frozen until officials had established the facts from the crash.
The club said: "Cardiff has made its position very clear that it had nothing to do with the arrangements of the flight, and now new information is coming in every day as we are continuing to investigate the chain of events and the cause of the accident. We are looking at the potential possibility of negligence that may have caused the accident."
The flight was booked by Sala's agent and Mark McKay, who was an intermediary in the deal. Emergency services believe the plane crashed into the sea on Monday after taking off from Nantes in north-west France.
The club are particularly keen to discuss the chain of events with the owners of the US-registered Piper PA-46-310P Malibu.
Cardiff City fans have honoured Emiliano Sala outside the club's stadium. Photo / Getty Images
A £20 million transfer fee had been agreed with Nantes, including a £3 million bonus if the club survived relegation. Sala had been due at his first training session in Wales on Tuesday. The transfer documents had already been filed with the Football Association and Fifa. Cardiff "will pay whatever is due, once they have established all the answers and can determine all the facts", a source said.
The search for the aircraft officially ended on Thursday, against the wishes of Sala's family. Rescue crews had covered an area of around 440sq km of land and sea without finding any remains of the aircraft.
Yesterday, Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona both supported calls to resume the search. A receptionist at the hotel where the pilot had been staying also added to the mystery by saying she believed the plane had been due to leave up to 10 hours before it eventually took off.
The club are believed to have had £16 million of personal accident protection with the financial giant Lloyd's to cover players. Trade magazine Insurance Insider reports the club's accident policy is led by China Re Syndicate 2088 and brokered by Miller. Sala's name is likely to have been added to the club's policy when the transfer was completed on January 19, just two days before his death.
China Re's lead line represents around 16 per cent of the total limit, with other Lloyd's insurers set to pay the rest of the claim. The Piper Malibu aircraft, which vanished off the coast of Guernsey, is also insured in the London market. The plane was registered in the United States through a company based in Norfolk.
