‘We Want To Honour Him’ – Nantes Club President Reveals Plan To Retire No.9 Shirt In Tribute To Emiliano Sala

Chris Wright

8th, February 2019

3 Comments

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Sadly, it was confirmed late on Thursday that Emiliano Sala’s body had been recovered from the bottom of the English Channel.

While we all knew it in the pit of our stomach, official news came through from the relevant authorities that the body retrieved from the submerged plane wreckage was indeed that of the Argentinian striker.

After what must have been a tumultuous night, Sala’s former club Nantes acknowledged the difficult realisation in an emotional statement posted on Friday morning:

There are difficult mornings, nightmarish awakenings where unfortunately reality catches up with us. Emi has gone away.

Arriving on the banks of the Edre in July 2015, Emiliano Sala has won the hearts of supporters in Nantes. Through his work, his anger and limitless kindness, he finished top scorer for the last three seasons.

The national and international tributes that have been offered to him are due to the person and the player he was. We are losing today a friend, a talented player, an exemplary teammate.

We do not forget in this drama the pilot and his family and trust the authorities to continue their research.

FC Nantes, its leaders, staff, and players present the families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson their deepest condolences.

We will never forget you, Emi.

Nantes club president Waldemar Kita also added that he now intends to retire Sala’s shirt number as a lasting homage to their late friend.

I do not have the words, it’s a tragedy, I’m devastated.

Emiliano left his mark, which is why, like many fans, I want to honour him again by removing the No.9.

Nice touch. It’s precisely this kind of thing that shirt retiring should be preserved for.

RIP Emiliano Sala (1990-2019), David Ibbotson 

Posted in Ligue 1

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3 Comments

  1. Dildo says:

    I find this whole retiring shirt number thing a nonsense. It’s nice to remember him, obviously. But go on and build a statue then, rename a stand, sing his name, something like that. Could you imagine if a team like United or Real had decided to retire numbers 80 years ago? They would have to wear shirt numbers from 97 to 142 by now.

  2. John p borders says:

    I always prefer to leave the number as is, and every person after him who wears will have to honor his memory

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