“ CARDIFF CITY ABANDONED EMILIANO SALA “

BBC


Emiliano Sala was "abandoned" by Cardiff City and had to arrange his own travel in a £15m transfer from Nantes, says ex-football agent Willie McKay.

McKay's son Mark was Nantes' acting agent in the deal for the footballer, who died in a plane crash last month.

Willie McKay arranged the flight that crashed in the English Channel, killing Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson.

Cardiff say they "strongly reject" the claim they neglected to provide Sala with travel arrangements.

"He was abandoned in a hotel more or less to do his travel arrangements himself," Willie McKay said.

But in a statement, Cardiff said: "Our club was in the process of organising a commercial flight for Mr Sala until this offer was declined owing to separate arrangements being made - the planning and specifics of which Cardiff was not privy to.

"Cardiff has serious concerns over the potential unlawfulness of the journey following information that has been released. Clearly more answers as to the details surrounding this terrible tragedy are required."

Willie McKay is not a registered agent but when asked why he was involved in the Sala deal, he replied: "I was helping my son."

The body of Argentine Sala - the Bluebirds' record signing - was found in the wreckage of the Piper Malibu N264DB, which was found on the seabed 13 days after it vanished over the English Channel near Guernsey. Ibbotson's body has not been found.

"I wish I had never gone to watch the guy play," said Mark McKay. "I wish I had never known anything about it in the first place."

Speaking to the BBC, the McKays say they have been made "scapegoats" but believe investigations will show the crash was a result of "pilot error".

In a wide-ranging interview, the father and son also say they:

- Learned Sala was missing through a phone call from Cardiff boss Neil Warnock

- Were paying the entire sum of Sala's travel

- Will not chase Nantes for the money they are owed for brokering the deal

- The crash has made Mark McKay question his future in the industry


Cardiff declined to comment when approached by the BBC on Thursday.

Having signed for Cardiff, Sala flew back to Nantes on 19 January to say goodbye to his former team-mates before planning to return to the Welsh capital on 21 January.

Willie McKay said the disappearance of Sala's plane was first brought to his attention when he received a phone call from Warnock.

"Neil had called Mark and he told him to phone me," Willie McKay said.

"He told me the player liaison officer was waiting for Emi to come off the plane and it hadn't arrived. They feared the worst."

Willie McKay arranged Sala's flight to Cardiff through David Henderson - an experienced pilot who had flown him and many of his players "all over Europe on countless occasions". McKay did not own the plane and says he did not know who Henderson was going to ask to fly the plane.

"Nobody in Cardiff seemed to be doing anything. It was a bit embarrassing for Cardiff," Willie McKay said. "They buy a player for 17m euros and then leave him in a hotel by himself to go on the computer and look for a flight - I think Cardiff let themselves down badly.

"The way they've acted so far, they've been a disgrace."

In January, Cardiff told the BBC the club does not have a private jet for players to use and therefore they could not be expected to have arranged his travel to and from Nantes.

They added that "the relevant authorities must be allowed to determine the facts surrounding this tragedy". They are currently investigating the details of the flight.

In recent weeks, questions have arisen regarding the pilot's licence held by Ibbotson, and in an interim report this week, air accident investigators said he did not have a licence for commercial flights and could only fly passengers in the EU on a cost-sharing basis.

However, in what could cast fresh doubt over the legality of the flight, Willie McKay said it was not a cost-sharing agreement as "Emi wasn't paying anything" and that he was going to pay "whatever Dave [Henderson] was going to charge".

"When you phone for a taxi you don't ask him if he has a driving licence," he said. "I was just thinking about getting the boy home which he wanted and we were happy with what we did.

"I've been told on good authority he was a very good pilot so for people to vilify the pilot after a man's death is a disgrace. I don't hold anyone responsible because it's just a tragic accident."

Willie McKay claims Nantes owe his son £1.5m for brokering the deal but said "they won't be chasing Nantes for the moment".

"This is not about money, it's about two lives that have been lost," he said. "You're prepared to lose that £1.5m given the circumstances.

"I've got three great kids and a wife who have been very strong though this - if others want to argue about money let them, but we won't be arguing about money."

Fifa is investigating the transfer payment for Sala after Nantes made a claim against Cardiff.

The Welsh side were due to make the first of three instalments on 20 February, but they agreed with French Ligue 1 side Nantes to extend the deadline by a week.

Nantes wrote to Cardiff on 5 February requesting the first instalment, which Cardiff were due to pay the first of on Wednesday.

Cardiff said they were withholding payment until crash investigations were complete and they were satisfied about "anomalies" around the deal.

"I don't care to tell the truth - I really don't care because what we've been through is total hell," Willie McKay said.

Willie McKay says the weeks since the crash have been "very, very difficult" for himself and his family, adding he feels "great grief" for the families of the deceased men.

But his son said he "doesn't see" how they would have ever done things differently and hopes "everyone can stick together".

Mark McKay admitted the incident had made him question his future as a football agent but added it was not the right time to think about it.

"You don't make decisions when you're in a place like this," he said.

"At the end of the day I don't want to sit here and be a victim because I'm not and that's a fact. But its been tough and its been tough for people around me."

Give that man a spade because he is in a big hole

Hard to believe they’d spend 17 million Euros on their record signing and then abandon him in a hotel room and the heart bleeds about the money his son is still owed.
Seems the man is thoroughly detached from normal reasoning or thinking.

He is now ready to blame the club, so he can get away with things. Shocking.

squabbling like this following the death of two individuals is highly distasteful. it is driven in part by the media who have been shit stirring in order to sell papers. they could not care less about the two individuals. it's just the drama of the day to them.

the financial side will have to be addressed, and as the player was an asset purchased for £15m, and these proceedings / negotiations should be done behind the scenes, and not in the public eye, as mckay seems intent on doing.

Cardiff City abandoned him yet gave him options of flights to get to Cardiff which he refused because mckays son said his dad could get him a flight for nothing if he helped him score goals. Eff are his two kids doing being registered with our club. That's what stinks

I'm not being funny he is a professional footballer with a tun of money. Im glad the club offered to arrange his flight but I don't think they have a duty to arrange it for him. He is his own man and I'd have thought his actual agent whoever that is would arrange it to be honest.

These two are beginning to sound like the utter vermin they are . if they had the money for brokering this deal they could not give a f**k for the two that have been killed and you would not hear a word off them,about time the police were getting involved in this saga as this is really beginning to stink, and by the way not a bad property for a bankrupt person, i think that alone is enough to judge what kind of person mr mckay is.

Leaked wats ap messages in Daily Mail prove club did not abandon Emiliano Sala.
Proves Mckay conpletely wrong!

Even without the evidence saying we was willing to arrange the flight I knew this bloke was chatting s**t to go running to the BBC for an interview when no-one was really questioning anyone just cries out guilty conscious.

No-one was asking for answers off anyone and he just goes begging for a televised interview, disgraceful.

Give that man a spade because he is in a big hole

I listened to the interview and the things that shone through for me were (a) a lack of sincerity, (b) a lack of real concern, and (c) a lack of real emotion

The use of a rather large spade seems to be the order of the day and the interviewer himself appeared a little confused with regard to some of the responses and repeated some questions in a different format

I don't know how much City played a part in this whole flight saga but I did have a conversation yesterday that indicated that much of what was said by the McKay's will be proven as false and (at best) 'deflective'

Like i said from the very start of the Sala tragedy that there is going to be questions asked and answers to be given and City need
to be ready and willing to answer any questions directed at them

I think our club are handling this really well. They could quite easily react and enter a war of words with this idiot or Nantes. We'd then end up looking really bad.

The statements released are precise and well thought out. As is anything Tan, Choo or Dalman has said. We've continued to show respect to the dead as other parties do not!

As others have said. This idiot can keep on digging. He knows the buck stops with him.

Not a nice headline could have been different, maybe along the lines of "McKay says City abandoned Emiliano Sala" the way the post is presented makes it look like its a fact, not just a statement by Mckay!

My reply to the same topic on our Facebook page:

Them is fighting words, he’s trying to cover his own arse after “leaking” (more like giving) the messages and emails to the press where he (or his son) said that they would arrange the travel for Sala and not to worry about that issue as they could get him a flight to and from Nantes instead of going commercial and flying from CDG

The harsh reality of this transfer is that the Mckay’s should never have been involved in this transfer, they simply weren’t needed. We wanted to buy..Nantes wanted to sell..Sala already had an agent to negotiate his wages etc..why were these leaches needed or were asked to get involved is anyone’s guess

If they hadn’t been involved this accident would probably never have occurred and 2 people would probably still be alive