Body from plane wreckage identified as footballer Sala: UK police

TIL Desk Sports/ A body retrieved from the wreckage of a crashed plane in the English Channel has been formally identified as CardiffCity’s Argentina-born soccer player Emiliano Sala, British police said in a statement on Thursday.

Sala, 28, had been flying from his previous club Nantes in western France to Wales on January 21 to make his debut for the Premier League team when the single-engined Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared over the sea.

Wreckage was found on Sunday following a privately-funded underwater search and a body recovered on Wednesday and taken to southern England.

“The body brought to PortlandPort today… has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala,” the police statement said.

“The families of Mr Sala and the pilot David Ibbotson have been updated with this news and will continue to be supported by specially-trained family liaison officers. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.”