I just wanted to say that I think fifa’s ruling today that Cardiff should only pay €6m is an insult, Cardiff had a duty to ensure the safe transit of one of their new signings and if I were a Cardiff fan I would be deeply ashamed of my clubs actions.
Rant over
Comments
From BBC News website
“A statement from Fifa read: "Cardiff City FC must pay FC Nantes the sum of 6m euros, corresponding to the first instalment due in accordance with the transfer agreement concluded between the parties on 19 January 2019 for the transfer of the late Emiliano Sala from FC Nantes to Cardiff City FC.
"The sum of 6m euros corresponds to the first instalment currently due in accordance with the contract. For confidentiality reasons, we cannot comment at this stage on potential future instalments or other conditions of the transfer agreement."
So where is the “only €6M”? They’ve been told to pay what is due at the moment and other payments will be advised in due course. So why the rant now?
Not quite sure your rant is totally correct.The first instalment of €6 million was due at the time of Sala’s death which Cardiff withheld until this ruling. They are then due to pay 2 further instalments as per the original agreement meaning they will have to pay the whole agreed fee.
Where it does become tacky and unseemly is if Cardiff appeal this ruling which football being so money orientated is entirely likely sadly.
I thought players were insured by their clubs. If Cardiff didn't do this then tough luck.
Buy a player from abroad, don't sort his insurance out or arrange adequate travel? all the sympathy in the world for his family and everyone who came in to contact with him, less so for whoever brought this rather pathetic case. As the people above have pointed out the amount in the award is because that is all that is owed at this point, if they found against Cardiff now they will probably do so for anything else they try to avoid paying going forward.
While not agreeing with the whole sorry affair I thought that Cardiff's original position had been along the lines of:-
They hadn't at the time of the air crash completed the signing, due to some documentation being withheld by Nantes (or some similar technicality) at Nantes specific request. Therefore, the Cardiff position was that no monies were due because the transfer wasn't completed.
Don't forget, this isn't a discussion about any compensation or payment to his family but simply if Cardiff owe Nantes any monies.
Found a reference to it reported on the BBC
"Cardiff believe the transfer was null and void, saying the Premier League had rejected certain clauses requested by Nantes in the original contract and that Sala never had a chance to review or sign the final version, meaning their record signing was not registered as a Premier League player".
I'm sure there will be lawyers who will argue at least 3 different interpretations of the legal position. I expect Cardiff to appeal the FIFA ruling too.
Cardiff will certainly struggle to put a PR charm offensive out on this little one.
Once you start unveiling players and doing photos in the shirt you are most of the way there. If they agreed and signed a player to a contract that isn't fitting Premier League rules that probably won't go in their favour either. Sure they'll appeal anyway.
@StrongestTeam, as I read it the reason the terms were not acceptable to the PL were because of clauses that Nantes insisted be put in. Under those circumstances, if I were Cardiff, I'd be arguing that we didn't sign the player because of conditions which Nantes insisted upon. Why is that Cardiff's fault the PL didn't agree the contract?
No need for a PR spin, it's a legal point that is being argued.
Q. What would have happened if the aircraft not crashed and Sala and/or Nantes wouldn't sign an ammended contract that was acceptable to the PL?
A. The transfer wouldn't have been completed and Sala would have remained a Nantes player.
I have no doubt the lawyers will be arguing just that.
And from a dispassionate point of view, that's not an unreasonable argument.
This is simply a commercial dispute between Cardiff and Nantes and then probably between the loser and their
Insurers.
It doesn’t affect Mr Sala or his family
In any way as far as I can see.
In terms of whether Cardiff or Nantes are in the legal right here, that depends on the precise legal contract and whether the FA issues and any issues re international clearance were of sufficient severity that they allowed Cardiff to get out of the deal.
The court has all those details,
We don’t
I suppose we have to trust them to have made the right legal decision.
Morally feels like the right outcome too.
@Twizz what I meant was that if they'd effectively signed the guy but the prem didn't like some bits of the signed contract that might not invalidate it. It might have meant he wasn't sanctioned to play as long as it met FIFA rules and was a legal contract. Rembering when a player signed for Leicester minutes after the transfer deadline. He was there's as it was done but he couldn't play. If he had signed the deal they probably are obliged to pay.
Tbh I was mainly registering a dislike for what I see as Cardiff's approach overall to the transfer. The courts will of course decide what is legal and as Dev adds it will then probably be one for insurers. Not something we need to dwell on too much.
@fame_46 your opening question is the key. All Cardiff's lawyers, probably even the insurance companies lawyers too, are arguing about is the fine detail.
I always said I didn't agree with the sorry affair, and if we were merely debating compensation to his family I'd take a very different view.
However, the FIFA ruling was about Cardiff owing Nantes a transfer fee. I'm hoping that there was no mention of compensation to his family because all parties involved have done the right thing and there is nothing to debate.
My fear, though is that we are discussing the transfer fee exactly because football is so awash with money that the lawyers stand to make a good fee by not agreeing and arguing the case in court.
Even though the Premier League is awash with money it's mainly in the hands of the big 6. Whilst those six and a few others would not exactly miss £15m, financially it is probably fairly significant to Cardiff.
Cardiff raked in £99.6million last year in prize money, tv and Premier league share money.
They're doing ok.
£15m is significant to virtually anybody. It may well be the case that Cardiff are being forced to pursue the case by their insurers.
To be honest I really don't see why it makes any difference to Mr Sala's family whether or not Cardiff are obliged to pay Nantes a transfer fee. you could just as well argue that Nantes shouldn't pursue the fee so that his family can be left to grieve the loss.
My instinct is that Cardiff do morally owe the money and it appears the tribunal has determined this to be the case.
While not being as remotely important as a potential premier league footballer, I’ve always wondered what would happen to any death in service benefits if I popped my cloggs on the weekend when changing employers.
I guess it’d be tough luck (on top of being dead as well). I doubt anyone would be that worried about the morality of it all.
My advice if you’re in that position would be stay at home, don’t use a gas appliance, no DIY, perhaps try to stay awake all weekend but don’t move about much.
As with all things Premier League, this is a business argument between two clubs. The player’s tragic end doesn’t really come into it.
Hadnt they bought him a seat on a normal plane but he and his dodgy agent decided for speed to employ a part-timer to fly a dodgy plane?
To be fair, there is no way the pilot would have taken off if he had any reason to believe that a fault would cause carbon monoxide to leak into the cabin.
While the press love to jump to quick conclusions especially if they can establish a pantomime baddie, it doesn't appear that the pilots capabilities were in any way relevant to the accident.
Accidents happen, humans die. Its tragic for those affected but a fact of life I'm afraid. Just another reminder t those left behind to take advantage of every day they have alive.
It’s desperately sad for the families involved, but that doesn’t mean that someone is to blame.
If a plane falls out of the sky then there is a very high chance someone is to blame.
you missed the bit where I said its tragic for those directly affected. It is. But sadly accidents are a fact of life. And sadly it is reality that human beings (often young ones) will sometimes die in those accidents.
Harsh reality is that probably five or so people were killed in road accidents yesterday in the UK. five or so more will die today. Those accidents will be prominent in the next weeks local newspaper but otherwise little attention is paid by the majority even those who live in the vicinity.
An accident is not any more tragic because the victims celebrity or good looks or some other reason means it gets picked up by the national press. A footballers premature demise is tragic in itself and for his family and his friends. So is a car mechanics or a baker or a call centre operator.