Cardiff to claim Sala transfer 'null and void'

LONDON, Mar 25 (AFP): Cardiff are set to tell FIFA that the £15 million ($19.8m, 23m euros) deal they agreed to pay Nantes for Emiliano Sala became "null and void" after he died in a plane crash, a report said on Monday.

The 28-year-old Argentine forward was killed when the small plane carrying him came down in the Channel on January 21, two days after he completed his transfer from the French Ligue 1 side.

The Daily Telegraph said Sala signed a contract with Cardiff that was rejected by the Premier League and died before a revised one could be signed, adding that there is a dispute about whether he had agreed to sign a new deal.

According to the report, a source close to Cardiff said the agreement stipulated that Welsh and French football authorities had to confirm to both clubs that Sala "has been registered as a Cardiff City FC player and that the player's International Transfer Certificate has been released". The source said this had not happened before Sala died.

"The transfer agreement between Cardiff and Nantes was subject to several conditions," the source told the paper.