Emiliano Raúl Sala Taffarel (31 October 1990 – 21 January 2019)

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Emiliano Raúl Sala Taffarel (31 October 1990 – 21 January 2019) was an Argentineprofessional footballer who played as a forward and was contracted to Premier League side Cardiff City at the time of his death.
Sala playing for Nantes in 2017
Personal information
Birth name
Emiliano Raúl Sala Taffarel
Date of birth
31 October 1990
Place of birth
Cululú, Santa Fe, Argentina
Date of death
21 January 2019 (aged 28)
Place of death
English Channel, off Alderney, Guernsey, Channel Islands
Height
1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position
Forward
Youth career
1994–2005
Club San Martín de Progreso
2005–2009
Proyecto Crecer
2010–2012
Bordeaux
Senior career*
Years
Team
Apps
(Gls)
2009
Crato
1
(2)
2012–2015
Bordeaux
11
(1)
2012–2013
→ Orléans (loan)
37
(19)
2013–2014
→ Niort (loan)
37
(18)
2015
→ Caen (loan)
13
(5)
2015–2019
Nantes
120
(42)
2019
Cardiff City
0
(0)
Total

219
(87)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
After playing youth football in Argentina and following a short spell in Portugal's regional leagues, Sala began his professional career in France with Bordeaux, making his professional debut in February 2012. After struggling to break into the first team, he was loaned out to Championnat National side Orléans and Ligue 2 side Niort in consecutive seasons. He enjoyed prolific spells with both clubs, scoring 39 goals between them, before returning to Bordeaux. After initially being promised an increased role after his successful loans, Sala fell out of favour again, and instead, joined fellow Ligue 1 side Caenon loan.
In 2015, he signed for Nantes on a permanent basis. With Nantes, he made more than 100 appearances in Ligue 1, and achieved a successful goalscoring record, finishing as the club's top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons. His form prompted a move to Cardiff City in January 2019, for a club record fee of £15 million (€18 million).
Sala was killed in a plane crash off the island of Alderney on 21 January 2019. He was flying from Nantes to Cardiff aboard a Piper Malibu light aircraft. Guernsey Police initially searched for three days over 1,700 square miles (4,400 km2) across the English Channel, before calling off the search after deeming the likelihood of the aircraft occupants surviving the incident being "extremely remote". Two subsequent private searches were launched, which yielded the wreckage and Sala's body on 7 February.
2019 Piper PA-46 Malibu crash

Tributes laid outside the Cardiff City Stadium following Sala's disappearance
After completing his medical at Cardiff, Sala returned to Nantes on the morning of 19 January on a plane arranged by football agent Mark McKay.[34] His intention was to return to Cardiff on 21 January in order to attend his first training session with his new club the following morning.[35] Sala had been invited to attend Cardiff's match against Newcastle United by manager Neil Warnock, but he chose to return to France in order to say goodbye to his Nantes teammates and collect personal belongings.[36]
On 22 January, Sala was confirmed to have been onboard a missing aircraft that was flying from Nantes to Cardiff.[37] The aircraft, the same Piper Malibu and pilot that brought Sala to Nantes two days earlier,[34][38] had gone missing off Alderney the previous day. On 23 January, Channel Islands Air Search reported that there was "no hope" of finding any survivors in the water.[39]
An audio message, allegedly sent from the plane by Sala to his friends via WhatsApp, was released by Argentine media outlet Olé. The audio message translates as follows:

"Hello, my brothers, how are you? Boy, I’m tired. I was here in Nantes taking care of things, things, things, things, things, things, and it never stops, it never stops, it never stops. Anyway guys, I’m up in this plane that feels like it's falling to pieces, and I’m going to Cardiff. [It's] crazy, we start tomorrow. Training in the afternoon, guys, in my new team... Let's see what happens. So, how's it going with you guys, all good? If in an hour and a half you have no news from me, I don't know if they are going to send someone to look for me because they cannot find me, but you will know... Man, I'm scared!"[40]

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At 15:15 GMT on 24 January 2019, after a "very thorough and extensive search" including eighty hours of combined searching undertaken by three planes, five helicopters and two lifeboats,[38] Guernsey Policeannounced that they had called off the search for the aircraft or any survivors.[41][42] The decision led to calls worldwide for the search to continue, including numerous other footballers, among them fellow Argentine players Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Agüero and former player Diego Maradona.[43][44] The president of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, stated his intention to issue a formal request to the British and French governments for the search to resume.[45] An online petition also attracted over 65,000 signatures and Sala's family later announced their decision to fund a private search.[45][46]Over £280,000 was raised for this search on GoFundMe started by Sports Cover,[47] a sports agency that represents Sala.[48] The funds enabled the private search to commence on 26 January, with the launch of two boats, led by marine scientist David Mearns.[47]
On 28 January, plans were announced for an underwater search to begin "within a week", dependent on weather conditions, using an unmanned remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to search an area of seabed north of Hurd's Deep.[36] On 29 January, Cardiff City F.C. included Sala on the team sheet for their game against Arsenal, with a daffodil next to his name in place of a squad number.[49] On 30 January, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) reported that they had found two seat cushions washed up on a French beach, which were believed to be from the missing aircraft.[50]
On 3 February, it was announced that another underwater search for the aircraft had begun, using the AAIB's Geo Ocean III vessel which, together with a privately-funded vessel, was conducting sonar surveys. The planned search, lasting three days, would cover an area of 4 square nautical miles (14 km2; 5.3 sq mi), about 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) north of Guernsey.[51][52][53] At approximately 21:11 GMT, six hours after the new search had begun, it was reported that wreckage from the aircraft had been found on the seabed.[54][55][56] The wreckage was at a depth of about 63 metres (207 ft) and there was a possibility that the bodies of both Sala and David Ibbotson, the pilot, were still onboard.[57] On 4 February, investigators stated that there was one body visible inside the wreckage.[58][59]
On 7 February, it was reported that a body had been recovered from the wreckage. The body was taken to the Isle of Portland to be passed to the Dorset coroner. Later that day, the body was formally identified as that of Sala by Dorset Police.[60][61][62][63][/size]
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