On January 21, 2019 soccer player Emiliano Sala was on his way to Cardiff, Whales to sign with his new team when the plane he was flying in disappeared over the English Channel. They remained missing for weeks until February 4th, 2019 when the plane wreckage was found. Inside the wreckage, was a body which was later identified to be Emiliano Sala. The pilot David Ibbotson still missing.

The soccer community bounded together with many star players and fans donating to fund for a private search after the original one ended only three days after he went missing. Many people came together for their love of football soccer and to honor Emiliano Sala and were able to double the goal of raising 150,000 euros to 300,000 euros. This helped fund the search up until Monday, February 4th where the plane’s wreckage was found in the English Channel. This is where authorities recovered Sala’s body.

Throughout the soccer community, everyone mourned his passing. Cardiff City, the club he was going to sign for and their fans, made continuous tributes to Sala by giving him a heartwarming banner that read ”We never saw you play and we never saw you score, but Emiliano our beautiful bluebird we will love you forever more”. The Cardiff City players also wore a special jersey with a yellow daffodil in their win against Bournemouth. They held a moment of silence to honor and mourn the passing of Emiliano Sala.   

Sadly, the story is not over since the pilot David Ibbotson is still considered missing. His family funded a private search to continue the rescue mission. Their family has been coordinating with a marine scientist, David Mearn, who discovered the plane wreckage to find the most successful way to find Ibbotson. The Ibbotson family released a statement saying, “Once we have 100 percent confirmed the plan forward we will fully update everyone. Thank you so much for your support. We cannot thank you enough.” Hopefully, David Ibbotson is found soon.