Lausanne (AFP)

FIFA vindicated FC Nantes and ordered the Welsh club Cardiff to pay a first installment of 6 out of 17 million euros for the transfer of Argentinean player Emiliano Sala, who died on 21 January with the pilot of the plane. who was transporting them to his new club.

After the disappearance of the player, Cardiff had decided not to honor this first payment, whereas it had been validated by the authorities of the football before the accident. Nantes then seized Fifa at the end of February to claim the full payment of the transfer.

Fifa told AFP that the decision on Monday concerns "only the first payment of EUR 6 million due under the terms of the contract", on a total amount of the transfer of EUR 17 million.

"For reasons of confidentiality, we can not comment on possible future games or other conditions of the agreement," added Fifa in a second statement providing clarification.

A spokesman for the Cardiff club said "take note" of the decision of the commission of the status of the player, in a communiqué sent to AFP.

"We are going to ask FIFA for clarification on the exact meaning of its press release in order to make an informed decision on our next steps," he added.

Both clubs have ten days to ask to receive the reasons for the decision and they can then appeal this decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which is based in Lausanne.

The Fifa Player Status Commission, chaired by South African Raymond Hack, met on Wednesday (September 25th) but only notified the decision on Monday to both clubs.

- Tragic circumstances -

In its deliberations, the commission took into consideration "the tragic and unique circumstances surrounding the dispute, deciding in particular not to claim procedural costs from the parties," said Fifa in its statement.

At the end of August, Fifa sent the two clubs a letter in which it advocated a conciliation for the payment of the transfer of the Argentine footballer.

Without the clubs' agreement, the file was therefore submitted to the commission of the status of the player who decided.

At the beginning of February, after long unsuccessful searches, Emiliano Sala's body was finally recovered in the wreck of the small plane and formally identified.

The wreck of the single-engine Piper Malibu, who was driving the 59-year-old driver and the 28-year-old former Nantes striker to his new club in Cardiff, was located at the spot where the plane was ceased broadcasting in the Channel, lying 67.7 meters deep, about 20 kilometers north of the Anglo-Norman island of Guernsey.

© 2019 AFP