Cardiff have been ordered to pay the first instalment of Emiliano Sala’s £15m transfer fee after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled the deal was complete before his death.

The Argentinian joined the Championship club from Nantes in January 2019, and the French side’s claim for the first €6m (£5.1m) has been upheld by CAS.

Sala died when the light aircraft he was travelling in from France crashed into the English Channel on 21 January, 2019, two days after Cardiff had announced his signing.

His body was found and recovered from the wreckage of the aircraft weeks later. The body of pilot David Ibbotson has never been found.

A statement issued by CAS read: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by Cardiff City Football Club against Football Club de Nantes in relation to the decision issued by the bureau of the FIFA players’ status committee on September 25, 2019 (the challenged decision).

“The challenged decision, in which Cardiff City FC was ordered to pay six million euros to FC Nantes in connection with the transfer of the player Emiliano Sala between the clubs, is confirmed.”

Cardiff released a statement which read: “Cardiff City is disappointed by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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“Once the club’s lawyers have digested the reasons for the decision we expect to appeal and will not be making any payments to FC Nantes in the meanwhile.

“If those appeals are unsuccessful and the club is liable to pay the transfer fee the club will take legal action against those responsible for the crash for damages to recover its losses.

“All our thoughts must continue to be with Emiliano’s family, who are now supported financially by the trust the club put in place for them.”

CAS declined to hear the second part of Cardiff’s case, where the club claimed Nantes, via its agents, were liable for the crash and that Cardiff are therefore entitled to compensation.

The club still intend to have that claim heard in a national court and to secure a stay of the FIFA award of €6m in Nantes’ favour pending the outcome.

Cardiff will also appeal against the CAS decision itself to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

An inquest into Sala’s death found he had died of head and chest injuries but would have been unconscious at the time of the crash due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The jury noted Mr Ibbotson did not have the correct licence for either a commercial flight, or one at night, and found the aircraft itself was not operated or maintained in accordance with commercial use.

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