Cardiff City to tell FIFA that deal for Emiliano Sala is ‘null and void’

The club has yet to pay Nantes the agreed £15 million for Emiliano Sala

Cardiff City are set to tell FIFA that the deal struck between themselves and Nantes over the transfer of Emiliano Sala is now "null and void" after the death of the footballer. The Premier League club agreed a deal for Sala during the January transfer window, but the Argentine striker died just days later when the plane he was travelling in from Nantes to the Welsh capital went down over the English Channel on January 21. Sala's body was recovered weeks after the crash, but the body of pilot David Ibbotson remains missing. Since his tragic death, the two clubs have been in disagreement over who owned him at the time of his death. Nantes have issued a complaint over Cardiff's withholding of the £15 million fee, but a Telegraph report has revealed that the Welsh club are set to respond by including that the Premier League had refused to allow Sala to play over a signing-on fee which was deemed to not be compliant with league rules. Though not revealed at the time, Sala's contract with Cardiff was rejected by the Premier League over the fact that the player's signing-on fee was front-loaded. League rules state that the fee must be paid in installments over the duration of a player's contract. To play in the Premier League he would have been required to sign a new contract, and it is unclear whether he did so at the time of his death. Another clause which will be mentioned by Cardiff is one which was reportedly included at the behest of Nantes, and which stipulated that the Football Association of Wales and France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel had to confirm to both clubs that Sala was registered to the Welsh side. There is disagreement over whether this clause was fulfilled. Cardiff have until next Wednesday to respond to FIFA.