Cardiff City under transfer embargo after failing to pay first instalment of £15m for Emiliano Sala

Cardiff City have been hit with a transfer embargo over their failure to pay up for Emiliano Sala, the Argentinian striker who died in a plane crash on his way to sign for the Welsh club in 2019.

FIFA had ordered Cardiff to pay the first £5.3million of the £15m transfer fee for Sala agreed between them and the striker’s French club, Nantes. 

Sala never made it to Wales, as he and pilot David Ibbotson died when their plane crashed and sank in the English Channel on January 21, 2019 on the journey from France.

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman confirmed that Cardiff have received their first invoice from Nantes but legal discussions continue to carry on

Cardiff insist Sala was never legally their player despite rulings by FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport that they should pay Nantes. 

Club chairman Mehmet Dalman says he is ‘confident’ Cardiff will be able to lift the embargo before the transfer window opens next month.

‘We haven’t paid and at this stage have no intention of paying until certain negotiations come to fruition,’ he said.

Cardiff appealed the CAS ruling, with a verdict expected in February.

The death of the Argentine striker in January 2019 sent shock waves through the football world

The club are in the middle of conversations with both the EFL and FIFA as they seek to resolve the ongoing situation.

‘I wish I had the power to lift the shadow of this situation from the club. People at this club want this resolved,’ Dalman told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

‘People should not forget that a 29-year old man was killed when he there was no need for that accident to happen. There is a human side to this story, it is not just a financial one.’

In August, Cardiff lost their appeal against a ruling by FIFA to pay the first instalment of the transfer – which was due to be £5.3m.

Despite the…