Cardiff City tried to take out £20m insurance on star player Emiliano Sala the morning after he was killed in plane crash, court hears as club sues insurers for £10m damages
- Emiliano Sala, 28, died in private flight from France to Wales on January 21, 2019
- He was travelling to take up new role with Cardiff City, then in Premier League
- Club was unable to claim money paid for Sala as insurers refused to pay out
- It is suing insurance broker Miller Insurance LLP, claiming it owes £10 million
Cardiff City tried to take out £20 million in insurance on star player Emiliano Sala the morning after he was killed in a plane crash, a court heard – as the club sues insurers for £10 million damages.
Argentine striker Sala, 28, died in a private flight from France to Wales as he travelled to take up his new role with the club, then in the Premier League.
But Cardiff City failed to get cover for the star before his plane went down as he flew from Nantes, the insurance company revealed.
Club bosses at Cardiff City are seeking damages of more than £10 million from insurance brokers over the death of the striker.
Star striker Emiliano Sala, pictured here with his sister Romina, died in a private flight from France to Wales as he travelled to take up his new role with the Cardiff City Football Club
The football club – owned by Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan – is suing insurance broker Miller Insurance LLP – claiming it owes more than £10 million in a High Court bid.
The club claimed the firm failed to say players would not be covered if they were not ‘timely informed’ of new signings such as their new star striker.
But lawyers representing the brokers said it was not up to them to ‘chase’ club bosses over making sure new signings were insured and that City was ‘fully aware’ Sala was not covered.
Alistair Schaff KC told the High Court that Cardiff City contacted insurers regarding Sala on January 22, 2019 – the morning after his flight went missing off the coast of Alderney.
Unqualified pilot David Ibbotson, pictured, was hired by business flight organiser David Henderson to fly the plane. Both Sala and Ibbotson died in the crash
Mr Schaff said the club made contact via email, seeking £20 million coverage for Sala – but the company denies owing the club anything.
Cardiff City claimed Miller Insurance failed to properly explain the concept of an ‘insurable interest’ for football player transfers, and the requirement of a ‘prompt’ notification of the transfer in order to secure coverage.
However, Miller claimed the broker warned Cardiff City several times that there would be a gap in a player’s insurance cover between acquiring an ‘insurable interest’ in a new player and informing the insurer.
Before Sala’s death, business flight organiser David Henderson, 67, hired unqualified pilot David Ibbotson to fly the plane from Nantes to Cardiff airport. Both the pilot and Sala died on the flight.
Cardiff City failed to get cover for the star before his plane went down as he flew from France to Wales
Sala’s body was recovered in a private salvage operation to find the plane – a Piper Malibu N264DB.
The pilot’s body was never found in the sunken wreckage.
The legal battle comes after Henderson was sentenced to 18 months behind bars last year for his role in the tragedy.
Lawyers for Cardiff City said that Miller’s defense is being ‘evaluated, but doesn’t seem to contain any surprises’. The club represented by David Phillips added that it expects to file a reply ‘soon’ to the High Court in London.
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