Cardiff City faces FIFA transfer ban over Sala fee

ANKARA

Welsh football club Cardiff City could be banned from signing players for three transfer windows if they fail to pay French team Nantes the first installment of a 6 million euro ($6.68 million) fee for the transfer of Emiliano Sala, who died in January in a plane crash.

"Cardiff shall be banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, up until the due amounts are paid and for the maximum duration of three entire and consecutive registration periods," FIFA's Players’ Status Committee (PSC) said Monday in a statement.

The PSC added that Cardiff have 45 days to pay, beginning from the moment Nantes provided its bank details.

According to the PSC, if the team does not pay the amount on time, the governing body will implement "a ban on registering new players either nationally or internationally."

The 28-year-old Argentine forward died on Jan. 21 while travelling from France to join Cardiff when his plane crashed into the English Channel.

Cardiff’s management has argued that the club was not liable for any fee because Sala was not officially their player when he died.

Throughout his career, Sala played for US Orleans, Bordeaux, Caen and Nantes.