Confirm Sala's death after finding his body

Authorities announced Thursday that the body had been taken to British territory for identification after being found Wednesday night in a part of the wreckage of the small plane carrying player and pilot David Ebotson. He crashed into the sea on January 21st as he was heading south. From France to the Welsh capital Cardiff.

"The body that was transported to Portland Harbor, in southern England, was officially identified on Thursday," Dorset police said in a statement released Thursday on its website at 2300 GMT. He belongs to the professional football player Emiliano. Sala ".

The families of Sala and Ebotson have been informed of the news and will continue to benefit from the support of specialists, the statement said, noting that both families were "in this difficult time".

"Rest in peace, warrior"

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona was the most prominent commentator on the body of his countryman, stating in his account on Instagram: "I am saddened by this sad news, many of us have kept a glimmer of light. Hope for you, Emiliano. "

Former Argentine international striker Gabriel Batistuta wrote on Twitter: "What sadness is the worst news possible.

The body was transported Thursday to the Port of Portland before being placed on a gray minibus that transported it to the morgue where the owner had been identified.

"This morning, the body was transported to Portland Harbor, Dorset, as it is the part of British territory closest to the aircraft's location," police said. a statement. "My family and the pilot have informed about the evolution of the situation.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri offered his condolences to the Sala family after the "painful news", adding that "we are at your side". The friend of Oscar Himo, owner of a restaurant in the small town of Sala, said: "Since we learn the loss of the plane, All of which everyone is talking about , everyone loved and appreciated. "

Earlier this week, Horacio Sala's father, in an interview with Fox Sports, admitted that there was "no hope" of finding his son alive.

"In difficult circumstances, the British Air Accident Investigation Bureau and its specialized partners have found the body found earlier in the wreckage," the British investigative bureau announced on Wednesday night. air accidents.

The plane was only Sala and the pilot was Ebotson.

"Unfortunately, attempts to salvage the wreckage have failed," the statement said, noting that videos captured for underwater debris "would provide valuable evidence for the investigation".

The body was spotted Monday on the underwater photo of the wreckage of the plane, which disappeared two weeks ago over the sea, about twenty kilometers north of the island. 39, the island of Gornisi, announced Monday the office. "Tragically and in a video sequence (from a remote vehicle), a passenger can be seen among the debris," he said in a statement.

"Nobody would have looked for the plane" there had been no donations

Sala, 28, and the 59-year-old driver Abuttsson, left Nantes, in the west of France, where the Argentine striker was playing until then to travel to Cardiff, Wales, so to join his new club, Cardiff City. The radar screen lost the plane about 20 kilometers north of the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands.

The authorities stopped the search for the plane before resuming the initiative of the Sala family, which was using special resources as part of a research campaign funded by football players, including the Sala Lionel Messi, as well as by many donors via the Internet.

Donations exceeded 370,000 euros ($ 422,000).

"Nobody would have looked for the plane," David Mernes, a shipwrecked researcher and owner of the ship's demolition company, told AFP. The discovery of two seat cushions on the French coast last week confirmed the crash of the plane. .

Sala was unable to play for Cardiff City in the Premier League.

A source close to Nantes said Wednesday that the latter had asked lawyers to investigate the possibility of taking legal action to compel Cardiff to pay his contract with attacker Sala. According to the source, the first payment of the transaction, of an amount of 17 million euros, that Cardiff City had to pay for the player, was not paid and the transfer was registered .