SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: MURKY McKAY "THREATS TO KILL" CITY STAFF

Police investigate Willie McKay amid Cardiff City 'kill' threat allegation
By Ben Rumsby, Tom Morgan and sports news correspondent Harry Harris


Sunday 3rd March 2019


Police are investigating alleged threats by Willie McKay towards senior Cardiff City officials, Telegraph Sport can reveal.


An inquiry has been launched amid accusations the man who booked Emiliano Sala’s doomed flight threatened to “kill everybody” at the club.

A complaint by Cardiff also claims he made similar threats against specific individuals, both in person and over the telephone.

Telegraph Sport has been told by sources close to the club that these individuals, who this publication has agreed not to name, are taking the threats seriously and have provided witness statements to that effect.

The police investigation is a major escalation in the acrimonious fallout from the fatal Jan 21 plane crash.


South Wales Police said that it “can confirm that a complaint has been received from Cardiff City Football Club and is currently being investigated”.

On conviction, a death threat is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.


Cardiff declined to comment beyond stating: “It was necessary and appropriate for South Wales Police to be engaged on the matter.”

But The Telegraph has learnt they accuse McKay of threatening to “kill everybody” at the club on the weekend of the footballer’s funeral in Argentina last month.

He is alleged to have told club officials: “I’ll kill everybody if my sons get slaughtered.”


McKay’s eldest son, Mark, was one of the agents involved in Sala’s transfer from Nantes to Cardiff, while another of his sons, Jack, helped make arrangements for the player’s doomed trip.

McKay has previously claimed he and his children – two of whom are Cardiff players – had “been through hell” over reprisals after the crash.

He has also accused Cardiff of “trying to throw me under the bus” over Sala’s death and of knowing about all flights arranged as part of the striker’s transfer.


This newspaper has been told his alleged threats prompted club lawyers to write to his lawyers requesting he desist and banning him from their stadium.

McKay did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday, having previously been abusive towards Telegraph reporters investigating the flight that killed Sala.


News of the police investigation follows an explosive television interview with McKay last week that cast major doubt on the legality of the flight.

In it, McKay admitted agreeing to pay the entire cost of the journey, a practice banned for such trips under the Civil Aviation Act.

That is because neither the pilot, Dave Ibbotson, nor the plane, a Piper Malibu PA-46-310P, had been licensed to undertake commercial flights.

McKay’s confession could be the catalyst for negligence and other legal claims by Cardiff against him and Sala’s former club Nantes – for whom Mark had worked during the player’s move to Wales and was due 10 per cent of the transfer fee.

McKay has repeatedly stated that Sala’s fatal flight was booked via Dave Henderson – an experienced light aircraft pilot who had flown him around Europe many times – and that he had no input into the selection of pilot or plane.


Henderson has yet to comment on any of McKay’s claims and attempts to reach him last week were unsuccessful. Ibbotson, who died with £23,400 worth of county court judgments against him, is still missing-presumed-dead following the crash into the English Channel.


It emerged on Saturday he had dropped out of a commercial pilot’s licence course in 2014 after failing to complete his theoretical training.

Cardiff have frozen payment of Sala’s record £15 million transfer fee to the French club pending the outcome of the investigation into his plane crash.


On Tuesday, Nantes lodged a formal complaint over the non-payment with Fifa, which later confirmed it was investigating.

It could be forced to arbitrate in a case complicated by Sala having signed a potentially-invalid contract with Cardiff, who plan to argue that made his transfer from Nantes incomplete.

Speaking in Scotland at the annual meeting of the International Football Association Board Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the entire Sala saga had been a “terrible tragedy”.

He added of the investigation: “We have to see what the consequences are.”

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And he continues to dig this hole deeper and deeper.

Maybe he should have took the blue pill, wake up tomorrow morning and it’s all just a dream instead of the red pill to see how deep this rabbit warren goes

I’m finding it quite interesting watching how badly he can dig his own hole. I have a feeling he’s done a number of unsavoury things over the years which have led to him thinking he’s invincible for it to all come crashing down in the past month

Surely he will never be associated with any football club again.
Amazing how he keeps opening his mouth and keeps lessening any case he may have had.

Testament of his character.

Typical football agent. A money grabbing creep.

Hope he gets found out for what he really is, a money grabbing heartless peace of shit. This will rumble on for some time unfortunately but it will all come out in the wash eventually I'm sure. Tosser.

These owners of our club can be quite ruthless when they have an axe to grind.

I never felt comfortable how they went about doing the business against Malky where they exagerrated the claims but this times they are allowing the investigations to go ahead while keeping their gobs shut this time. Far more civilised this time around.

These owners of our club can be quite ruthless when they have an axe to grind.

I never felt comfortable how they went about doing the business against Malky where they exagerrated the claims but this times they are allowing the investigations to go ahead while keeping their gobs shut this time. Far more civilised this time around.

I believe you're not wrong, Ian

The club are right to stay schtum and allow the facts to develop naturally

I think Agent McKay is so aware of his part that he has convinced himself that the best form of defence is attack; probably going against any advice he might have had

The old saying "one doth protest too much" appears very apt and I'm beginning to think the guy has got a major share holding in JCB

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Surely he will never be associated with any football club again.
Amazing how he keeps opening his mouth and keeps lessening any case he may have had.

Unbelievable and to think a young man in his prime has lost his life, and then to act in this way?

Everything around Mcliar stinks

I hope he does time for this