MX23RW : Thursday, January 31 12:33:40

Emiliano Sala's family continue their search for answers

Emiliano Sala's family continue their search for answers
© Reuters
An official search and rescue operation was called off on Thursday.

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock is set to address the media on Monday afternoon as the family of missing striker Emiliano Sala continue their own search for answers.

Staff and supporters of the Premier League club will wear yellow daffodils at Arsenal when the team returns to action on Tuesday night in respect of Sala, whose family saw a target of 300,000 euros (£259,000) reached on Sunday to help fund a new search around the Channel Islands.

An official search and rescue operation for the Piper PA-46 Malibu carrying the Argentinian striker and pilot David Ibbotson was called off last Thursday.

Pleas for the search to resume were made by the 28-year-old player's family, Argentinian football stars Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Sergio Aguero and the country's president Mauricio Macri.

Donations from footballers including Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan and France World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe helped a GoFundMe page raising money for the search to reach the revised target.

A statement from the family issued on Sunday afternoon via the GoFundMe page thanked everyone for the "exceptional generosity in a drama that goes far beyond football."

The fund is set to remain open, with Sala's sister and mother, Mercedes, having arrived in Guernsey on Sunday.

American-born marine scientist and oceanographer David Mearns, based in south-east England, is leading the private search.

"This is a family that has come from Argentina with this huge shock out of nowhere and is struggling with very, very few answers about an unexplained loss," Mearns said to reporters at Guernsey Airport.

"They're looking at this as a missing person, a missing plane and until they are satisfied, that's the mode that we are in."

Mearns added: "As you know, locally the search was terminated on Thursday and that was what triggered this private search. Today, even as an expert, my frame of thinking is alongside with the family's.

"That's what I'm trying to do, but we're trying to give them the best advice that we possibly can. You have to appreciate they don't know the environment, they don't know the geography."

A tribute to Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala
A tribute to Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala was shown on the big screen at Swansea's Liberty Stadium (Simon Galloway/PA)

Football agent Willie McKay arranged for the flight to take Sala from Nantes to Cardiff, but had no involvement in selecting the plane or pilot.

McKay's son, Mark, was the acting agent for Nantes in a move which made 28-year-old Sala a club-record transfer for Cardiff.

His other son, Jack, who plays for the Bluebirds, exchanged a series of text messages with Sala, suggesting a private flight from Cardiff to Nantes, and then back to south Wales two days later.

Pray for Sala flag outside the Riverside Stadium. (PA)
Tributes have been made at grounds across the country (Richard Sellers/PA)

McKay senior, who has released those messages, said a commercial flight to the French city would have involved going via Amsterdam.

After signing for Cardiff for £15million, Sala returned to Nantes to collect his belongings and say goodbye to team-mates and staff of the Ligue 1 club before heading back to the United Kingdom.

However, the plane carrying Sala disappeared over the Channel on Monday evening.


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Emiliano Sala in action for Nantes in late 2017
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Appeal to fund new search for missing Cardiff striker Sala to remain open
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool24194155144161
2Manchester CityMan City24182463194456
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs24180650242654
4Arsenal24145550331747
5Chelsea24145540231747
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd24136548351345
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2410593031-135
8Everton249693533233
9Watford249693334-133
10Bournemouth24103113742-533
11Leicester CityLeicester2495103030032
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham2494113037-731
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2475122736-926
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2466122132-1124
15Crystal Palace2465132433-923
16Southampton2458112641-1523
17Burnley2465132545-2023
18Cardiff CityCardiff2454152046-2619
19Fulham2445152553-2817
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2425171341-2811

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