EMILIANO SALA – A TRAGIC LOSS FOR SPORTS FANS
Every fan remembers the morning of Tuesday, January 22, 2019, a day of remorse, grief, and agony for the footballing world.
The coach said, “Our new striker was coming from Nantes last night,” when he heard that a light aircraft had vanished over the Channel from Nantes to Cardiff. However, other players brushed aside the claim. There must be a lot of planes flying that route frequently, right? Within an hour, Rob Phillips, the BBC Wales football correspondent, said that Cardiff was “seeking clarity” regarding the missing jet and there was “real anxiety” inside the club.
Emiliano Sala, an Argentine, had three days before being transferred from FC Nantes to Cardiff in a club-record £15 million trade. On that dreadful day, officials from Cardiff Football Club were dealing with a flood of questions from the international media on a developing catastrophe, not ready to welcome their much-awaited new striker to the ground.
It was quickly acknowledged that Sala had boarded the Piper Malibu aircraft. Taking off from Nantes Atlantique Airport and moving north of the Channel Islands, the plane cruised for about half an hour, after which it vanished from sight. There were no indications of a crash or wreckage at that time.
Sala was a talented striker who was loved by his fans. Cardiff supporters assumed he was the talisman who wanted to see their team achieve glory. The young and gifted footballer tragically died just as his PL career was about to commence.
The story’s interest levels reached unprecedented heights, and newscasters were bound to cover it in detail. Kayley Thomas, a teammate on the investigation team, was asked to investigate the facts surrounding the flight. The BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Wales podcast series also catered to this incident.
The aura created by this tragic news is still rife in the minds of individuals. They mourn the loss of a promising footballer who was tipped to become one of the greats. Emiliano Sala was born on October 31st, 1990. During his childhood, his parents were informed that he might never be able to run due to a disturbed respiratory system. But he outperformed everyone’s expectations, developing into a robust and healthy child close to his younger siblings Romina and Dario.
Sala’s mother, Mercedes Taffarel, took him to San Martin de Progreso when he was four. He was initially seen wearing a pair of trainers because the family couldn’t afford football boots. His love for the game grew, and at the age of 15, when football scouts saw potential in him, he made the 200-kilometer transfer to San Francisco, in the province of Cordoba, to train with an Argentine football college. He carried on with his footballing dream and toiled effortlessly to reach one of the best leagues in the world. His aspirations to play on a lush green field were realized eventually.
In a moving statement before his inquest earlier this year, Mercedes said, “He told me that I should let him go; that all he wanted in life was to kick a ball, and if I didn’t allow him, I would be murdering him inside.”
