THE MOTHER OF Emiliano Sala has taken aim at Cardiff for refusing to pay Nantes the £15 million transfer fee for her late son as she called for justice to be served amid ongoing inquiries into the player’s death.
The striker went missing, along with pilot David Ibbotson, on 21 January when the aircraft carrying the pair from France to Wales crashed into the English Channel.
Sala’s body has since been recovered from the wreckage but the cause of the tragedy is still unknown.
As such, Cardiff have refused to pay the fee owed to Nantes until investigations are concluded, but controversy remains over the planning, handling and overall legality of the flight itself.
Regardless, Mercedes Taffarel, Sala’s mother, feels strongly that the Bluebirds should pay the fee and that a refusal to do so dishonours her son.
“Emiliano signed in front of the press, in front of everyone, so they have to pay,” Ms Taffarel told L’Equipe.
Do I see this as a sign of disrespect towards my family? Yes, I think so. It would have been different if he had not really signed.
“Of course, they are also conducting their own investigation to find out what happened, that seems logical to me, but they must honour their word. His signature cannot be rubbed out.
“I am angry, yes, that is certain. They did not take care of him. A player worth that much money… They did not take care of him like he deserved.”
While the subject of the transfer fee now lies in the hands of Cardiff and Nantes, Sala’s mother is more concerned about seeing justice served after what happened to her son.
Finding out the truth of the tragedy would represent a small piece of closure in an otherwise bleak situation.
“The inquiry is ongoing,” she said. “I think at some point from now until the end of the year we will know what happened. We have to be confident. I want justice for Emiliano.
Therefore I have to have confidence. We are waiting to understand why and how he died. In what circumstances did he die? Is it the fault of negligence by the airport? The pilot? The agent?
“I simply want justice for my son. The truth. Let justice determine whether there has been negligence, if someone had made a mistake and has to pay.
“We have talked about a lot of things. People said that one pilot did not show up and another came in his place, and so on. These are questions that we have asked to the British police.
“These are questions to which we still have no answers.”
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