Cardiff have claimed Emiliano Sala’s life was put in danger after rules of flying were ‘disregarded’
Cardiff City have released a statement demanding those responsible for organising the doomed flight which killed Emiliano Sala are held “fully accountable”.
In their strongest statement yet, the club have expressed their shock at revelations pilot David Ibbotson was not qualified to fly at night.
The BBC claim Mr Ibbotson was colour blind and would therefore not have been able to attain a licence to fly at night.
Sala was found on the seabed of the English Channel after the flight from France, where the Bluebirds’ record signing had returned to Nantes to say goodbye to teammates and staff, back to South Wales came down.
In a statement, Cardiff said: “Cardiff City is shocked to hear the pilot, David Ibbotson, may not have been permitted to fly at night.
“The club remains deeply concerned that the pilot, and those who arranged the flight, seemingly completely disregarded the rules of flying and put Mr Sala’s life in such danger.
“We believe those who are responsible should be held fully accountable for their actions.
“We reiterate our support for the Air Charter Association’s call for more awareness of and better enforcement against illegal flights.”
Sala had been signed by Cardiff for £15million from Nantes in January and was set to spearhead the Welsh side’s charge for Premier League survival.
It has been reported Cardiff will tell FIFA they will not pay the transfer fee due to the forward’s death making the switch “null and void”