KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian business tycoon and Cardiff City FC owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan is distressed following the feared death of the club’s new signing, Emiliano Sala, said the club’s executive director and chief executive officer Ken Choo.
The English Premier League (EPL) club had also called off its training on Tuesday following Sala’s flight incident on Monday.
“We were very shocked upon hearing the news that the plane had gone missing. We expected Emiliano to arrive last night into Cardiff and today was due to be his first day with the team,” he said in a statement posted on the club’s website.
“Our owner, Tan Sri Vincent Tan, and chairman, Mehmet Dalman, are all very distressed about the situation. We made the decision first thing this morning to call off training with the thoughts of the squad, management staff and the entire Club with Emiliano and the pilot.
“All of us at Cardiff City FC would like to thank our fans and the entire footballing family for their support at this difficult time. We continue to pray for positive news,” he said.
The club said it will make a further statement as more information becomes available.
According to the international news agency, Reuters, the 28-year-old Argentine forward was on board the single-engine Piper Malibu flight that vanished over the English Channel on Monday.
It was reported that Sala, who completed the transfer from French Ligue 1 side Nantes to Cardiff City with the club’s record fee of 17 million euros (about RM79.86 million), was en route to the Welsh capital when the aircraft lost radar contact near the island of Guernsey.
Sala, who was playing in France since 2012, scored 12 goals for Nantes last season and was the club’s top scorer.
Cardiff City currently faces a relegation battle in the EPL, after having managed to accumulate only 19 points from 23 games to be placed in 18th place among 20 teams. The bottom three teams will be relegated to the second division.-- Bernama