Cardiff City could launch a negligence claim over the Emiliano Sala plane disaster as the club faces a financial loss of around £14M ($18.5M) "even after insurance payouts," according to Morgan, Harris & Johnson of the London TELEGRAPH. Senior figures at the club are "increasingly concerned" by the decision to fly their record signing across the English Channel in a single-engine plane built in '84 and piloted by a part-time gas engineer. Cardiff is now considering its legal position as it faces a three-year contract bill estimated by accountants at £30M ($39.6M). Accident insurance is "only likely to cover half the forecasted loss." One source said that payments from Cardiff to Nantes have been frozen "until officials have established the facts from the crash." The club is believed to have had £16M ($21M) of personal accident protection with financial firm Lloyd's to cover its players (TELEGRAPH, 1/25).
BACK TO WORK: The PA reported a new search for Sala was launched after more than £250,000 ($323,000) was raised to fund the operation. An official search and rescue operation for the Piper PA-46 Malibu carrying the Argentine striker and pilot David Ibbotson was called off on Thursday. Pleas for the search to resume were made by the 28-year-old player’s family, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Sergio Agüero and Argentine President Mauricio Macri. Donations from footballers including Man City’s İlkay Gündoğan helped a GoFundMe drive to raise money for the search to reach a revised target of €300,000 ($342,000) (PA, 1/27).
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS: The London INDEPENDENT reported football agent Willie McKay arranged the flight to take Sala from Nantes to Cardiff but "had no involvement in selecting the plane or pilot." McKay's son, Mark, was the acting agent for Nantes in a move which made Sala a club record transfer for Cardiff City. His other son, Jack, exchanged a series of text messages with Sala, suggesting a private flight from Cardiff to Nantes, and then back to south Wales two days later. McKay, who met with Sala's family, said that Cardiff City was "also aware of the travel arrangements for the missing player" (INDEPENDENT, 1/26).
