Nantes (AFP)

"He's an Argentinian, he never lets go" ... Nantes paid homage on Sunday to Argentinian Emiliano Sala before his match against Bordeaux, the training club of the former Canary striker who disappeared a year ago in a plane crash.

Before the kick-off, a tarp bearing the effigy of the former Nantes number 9 remained deployed in the central circle during the warm-up of the players.

In a nearly full but silent Beaujoire stadium, the giant screens broadcast images of the Argentinian striker, while supporters displayed a tifo representing Sala alongside Henri Michel and other former FC Nantes missing glories : "Our collective memory makes you immortal".

At the players' entrance, the supporters chanted "Emiliano Sala, Emiliano Sala ..." and a huge tifo displayed his face and number 9 on all the stands. Then the players and referees mingled for a minute of applause that the supporters made last.

In the 9th minute, as in all matches for a year, the supporters lit smoke bombs and threw papers, all standing to applaud and sing: "he's an Argentinian, he never lets go ..."

The Canaries play with a white jersey with imperceptible blue lines, in homage to this Argentinian who dreamed of Albiceleste even if he was little known in his country. The Bordeaux team, its training club, tackles its initials and the Argentinian flag at heart level.

Before the match, many supporters came to meditate for a few minutes in front of a large smiling portrait of the player. Some have placed flowers, or left a message, or a drawing representing a 9 with a halo and angel wings.

"It's weird to come back. We were there a year ago, we still can't believe it. We are all there for him, all year round, at all matches, and we will never forget him "It is so sad. He was at the beginning of his life, and he gave everything on the field. Every game, every goal, I think of him," said 30-year-old Marianne Bejin.

On the evening of January 21, Emiliano Sala died at the age of 28 in the crash of the small passenger plane that took him to Cardiff, then in the Premier League, where he had just been transferred after wearing the Nantes jersey for three years and half.

In addition to the emotion, the player's disappearance leaves many questions unanswered, on the responsibilities in the accident in which the pilot David Ibottson also disappeared and for which the investigation report is expected in March, and on the payment of 17 million euros planned for its transfer.

In September, Fifa ordered Cardiff, relegated this summer to the British 2nd Division, to pay the first tranche of 6 million expected. But the Welsh club has seized the Sports Arbitral Tribunal, whose decision is not expected before June.

© 2020 AFP