The body of footballer Sala must be sent back to Argentina on Friday

BUENOS AIRES: The body of Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala must be sent back to Argentina on Friday, said the mayor of his hometown of Progreso, Julio Muller, to AFP on Tuesday (February 12th).

Sala's body was found in the wreckage of a plane in the Channel last week. He had left his former French club Nantes to join the new team of his former French club, Cardiff City, in the English Premier League, when his plane was reported missing over the English Channel on 21 January.

Muller said that Sala's body would arrive in the late afternoon and would be driven to the gym next to the headquarters of his youth club, where a vigil was planned.

He added that "Sala's mother, sister and brother have already arrived in Progreso".

The British authorities officially identified Sala's body last week, after which her family declared that she could "start crying our son and our brother".

Sala, 28, has died of "head and trunk injuries," a judicial inquiry in England on Monday said.

He was traveling on a light aircraft that disappeared near the British island of Guernsey.

The wreckage was found on the seabed but the 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson is still missing.

The former Sala team sent him an enthusiastic message on Sunday disputing a French league match with a special black kit for the occasion, each player wearing the name of Argentina on the back of his jersey rather than his.