MX23RW : Wednesday, December 18 10:39:59| >> :600:100953:100953:

Football pays its respects to Sala

Football pays its respects to Sala
© Reuters
The body of the 28-year-old Argentinian was recovered from the English Channel this week.

Tributes have been paid to Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala as the football family gathered to show their respect to the Argentinian striker.

Sala's body was formally identified by the Dorset coroner on Thursday night, a day after it was recovered from the underwater wreckage in the English Channel.

The flight carrying Sala from Nantes to Cardiff following his record £15million transfer to the Premier League club two days earlier crashed into the sea near Alderney on January 21.

Southampton v Cardiff City – Premier League – St Mary's Stadium
Cardiff players observe a minute's silence in honour of the late Emiliano Sala before their Premier League game at Southampton (Mark Kerton/PA)

Lincolnshire pilot David Ibbotson remains missing, with his family having launched a fundraising appeal to find his body.

The Premier League confirmed on Friday that all teams would be wearing black armbands this weekend in honour of the 28-year-old Sala.

Cardiff were also given permission to wear shirts embroidered with a yellow daffodil, the national emblem of Wales and the colour of Sala's former club Nantes.

A minute's silence was held before kick-off at St Mary's on Saturday as the players stood around the centre circle, with Sala's picture shown on the big screen behind one of the goals.

Southampton v Cardiff City – Premier League – St Mary's Stadium
Cardiff's Callum Paterson wears a shirt in tribute to late team-mate Emiliano Sala ahead of the Premier League game at Southampton (Mark Kerton/PA)

Bluebirds manager Neil Warnock and his players, who had warmed up before the game in shirts with a picture of Sala on them, had their heads bowed as the tribute was impeccably observed.

"Our thoughts remain with the families of Emiliano and David Ibbotson," the official Cardiff Twitter account tweeted just before kick-off.

In the earlier lunchtime game between Fulham and Manchester United, the Craven Cottage crowd paid their respects before kick-off with loud applause for Sala.

Sala's picture was also shown on the big screen alongside that of the Cardiff badge.

Tributes were also paid to Sala throughout the Football League, among them Cardiff's great rivals Swansea, who held a minute's silence before their Sky Bet Championship home fixture with Millwall.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Phil Blanche, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '824af661-6645-4767-ad98-c2ab08faa0a5');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Football pays its respects to Sala'});

ID:349818: cacheID:349818:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7587:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Emiliano Sala in action for Nantes in late 2017
Read Next:
Cardiff have to move on from Emiliano Sala tragedy, says Warnock
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd21145230111945
2Leeds UnitedLeeds21126337152242
3Burnley2111822681841
4Sunderland21117332171540
5Blackburn RoversBlackburn2011452517837
6Middlesbrough21104735251034
7Watford2010462926334
8West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom2171132416832
9Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds218582630-429
10Swansea CitySwansea217682322127
11Bristol City216962626027
12Norwich CityNorwich216873632426
13Millwall206772018225
14Derby CountyDerby216692626024
15Coventry CityCoventry216692730-324
16Preston North EndPreston2141162127-623
17Stoke CityStoke215792328-522
18Queens Park RangersQPR2141072127-622
19Luton TownLuton2164112337-1422
20Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2046102133-1218
21Cardiff CityCardiff2046101932-1318
22Portsmouth193882134-1317
23Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2045111942-2317
24Hull City2137111930-1116


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!