French civil aviation authority has confirmed that Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala is on board a missing aircraft. The single turbine engine aircraft went missing off radars near the Channel Islands on Monday evening.
The plane was travelling from Western France to Cardiff when it disappeared at around 8:30pm on Monday. Recently signing a new £18m contract with Cardiff, Sala had flown back to Nantes to stay goodbye to his friends and team-mates.
Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said, “We are very concerned by the latest news that a light aircraft lost contact over the Channel last night. We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala.”
Cardiff executive director Ken Choo said, “We were very shocked upon hearing the news that the plane had gone missing. We expected Emiliano to arrive last night into Cardiff and today was due to be his first day with the team. All of us at Cardiff City FC would like to thank our fans and the entire footballing family for their support at this difficult time. We continue to pray for positive news.”
A major search and rescue operation is now in place.