French Ligue 1
FAMILIES OF EMILIANO SALA AND PILOT AWAIT IDENTIFICATION OF BODY
The body recovered from plane wreckage involving footballer, Emiliano Sala has been taken to Portland in Dorset to be formally identified. According to The Guardian of UK, the families of the Cardiff City footballer and pilot David Ibbotson are waiting for a body recovered from the wreckage of their plane to be formally identified.
Investigators removed the body from the Piper Malibu N264DB on Wednesday, and have ended their attempts to recover the aircraft remains because of poor weather.
The body was brought to Portland in Dorset by the Geo Ocean III boat, and taken on a stretcher to an ambulance, before being transferred to the coroner.The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the families of both men had been kept informed of progress, and identification of the body was a matter for the police and coroner for Dorset.
A statement issued by the coroner and Dorset police said the body was brought to Portland port as it was the nearest part of the British mainland to where the plane was located.
“The coroner will investigate the circumstances of this death supported by Dorset police. A postmortem examination will be held in due course,” the statement said.
“While formal identification is yet to take place, the families of Emiliano Salaand David Ibbotson have been updated and will continue to be supported by specially-trained family liaison officers, during this difficult time.”
The AAIB said it decided to attempt recovery operations after using a remotely operated vessel (ROV) to examine the accident site off the coast of Guernsey.
“In challenging conditions, the AAIB and its specialist contractors successfully recovered the body previously seen amidst the wreckage,” it said. “The operation was carried out in as dignified a way as possible and the families were kept informed of progress.
“Unfortunately, attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful before poor weather conditions forced us to return the ROV to the ship. The weather forecast is poor for the foreseeable future and so the difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close.”
The AAIB added: “Although it was not possible to recover the aircraft, the extensive video record captured by the ROV is expected to provide valuable evidence for our safety investigation.”
The aircraft remains 67 metres underwater, 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey in the Channel.
The remains of the plane were discovered on Sunday evening. It had disappeared on January 21 as it travelled from Nantes in France to Cardiff.
The AAIB said previously the work of the ROVs had been hampered by the difficult tidal conditions around the Channel Islands.
The plane had requested to descend before it lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.
An official search operation was called off on 24 January after Guernsey’s harbour master, David Barker, said the chances of survival after such a long period were “extremely remote”.
The remains of the aircraft were tracked down by a team coordinated by the ocean scientist David Mearns, who has located some of the most elusive wrecks in the world.
Mearns and his team found the aircraft within two hours. He said the discovery had been so quick because the team had been looking for a static object rather than in a dynamic environment searching for survivors.
“No one should walk away with the impression that the coastguard and also the Channel Islands air search did anything other than a professional job,” he said.
The AAIB plans to publish an interim report within the month.
Cardiff had signed Sala, a 28-year-old Argentinian striker, for £15m. It has emerged that Nantes has demanded payment from Cardiff for the player’s transfer.
It is understood Cardiff received a letter from Nantes on Tuesday, in which the French Ligue 1 club threatened to take legal action if the first scheduled payment of the fee was not made within 10 days.
After reaching a significant career milestone, Super Eagles winger and Nantes star, Moses Simon, was recognised by French Ligue 1 on Tuesday.
A pillar in the Nigeria Super Eagles side that finished second in last February’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, Simon is regarded as one of the most decisive Nigerian players in the French top division. He reached a milestone of 150 matches in the French Ligue 1 during Nantes’ 1-1 draw with Angers SCO at the weekend.
The Ligue 1 official Twitter account marked the occasion, celebrating Simon’s contributions with a post stating, “Indispensable Moses Simon.”
In his 150 appearances, the 29-year-old winger racked up 27 goals and 29 assists, showcasing his vital role in his team’s success.
Simon’s achievement places him fifth among Nigerian players with the most Ligue 1 appearances, trailing only John Utaka (239 games), Wilson Oruma (196), Taye Taiwo (191), and Victor Ikpeba (170).
Further cementing his legacy, Simon’s assist during the Angers match made him the most decisive player for Nantes since their promotion to Ligue 1 in 2013.
His pinpoint pass to Johann Lepenant in the 18th minute gave Nantes an early lead before Angers’ Himad Abdelli equalised later on.
With this assist, Simon broke the previous club record held by the late Emiliano Sala, becoming Nantes’ top contributor with 29 assists in Ligue 1.
This season, the Super Eagles forward has continued his form, recording two goals and two assists in just five games.
Simon was named Nantes’ Player of the Month for August.
Simon, who joined Nantes from Levante in August 2019, helped the Yellow Canaries lift the Coupe de France in 2022. It was the third trophy of his career, having won the Belgian Pro League and the Super Cup with Gent in 2015.
Jean-Louis Gasset who was sacked by Cote d’Ivoire after the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations last January has announced his retirement as a coach of Olympique de Marseille.
He will take charge of his last game on Sunday before retiring from management, the 70-year-old said on Friday.
Gasset was appointed as interim manager by the Ligue 1 club in February after the sacking of Gennaro Gattuso, and Marseille are eight in the standings going into their final Ligue 1 game of the season at Le Havre.
“Sunday will be the last match of my career,” Gasset told a press conference.
“That I stay in football, that my experience, my ideas and my networks are used is a possibility. I don’t know how to garden, I won’t have anything to do. But as a coach, it’s over.”
The Frenchman’s previous job was with Ivory Coast from which he was sacked after the team’s poor performances in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage. They scraped through as the last lucky losers before going on to win the tournament on home soil.
-Reuters
Kylian Mbappe has backed winger Ousmane Dembele to be a success at Paris St Germain and fill his boots after he exits the club, as he won his fifth successive Ligue 1 Player of the Year award.
France captain Mbappe, 25, last week announced that he will leave the French champions at the end of the season after a seven-year stay, during which he became their all-time top scorer with 256 goals.
Mbappe’s frustration lies with PSG’s performances in the Champions League, a trophy they have never lifted despite huge investment in the squad. He has been heavily linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, who are in the final this year seeking a 15th European crown.
His 26-year-old compatriot Dembele joined the Parisian club, who have won 10 of the last 12 Ligue 1 titles, from LaLiga side Barcelona in August last year, signing a five-year deal.
“I have shared and played with incredible players, like Dembele who is here, he is a friend and one day he will pick up this award,” Mbappe said on Monday at the award ceremony.
“I thank the club as a whole, the coach, who has helped me and trusted me, his staff, the doctors, all the people at the club, the sporting management, the president, the shareholders of the club, of course, the Emir of Qatar who came to find me at the age of 18, who has accompanied me in all my decisions…”
He said his next chapter is going to be very exciting but did not reveal any further details.
“Now I’m turning the page in my life. Everything that comes next is super exciting, but that’s another subject,” Mbappe said.
“Thank you all, I’m going to miss you. I have always tried to do my best, and I also want to thank my family, who have always been with me in good times and bad.
“My father, who is here, I know that it was very important to him that I made history in Ligue 1 before I left and I think that with humility I have done everything you wanted.”
-Reuters
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