On Jan. 21, 2019, Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala passed away after his plane heading for Cardiff went down in the English Channel.
The 28-year-old was headed to Wales after his former club FC Nantes and Cardiff City agreed to a $20 million transfer for the striker. His body was recovered from the wreckage, but the pilot and only other person on the plane, David Ibbotson, was not found.
A year after the tragedy, Nantes has unveiled its Argentina-styled kit (Sala was from the village of Cululú) for an upcoming match against Bordeaux in remembrance of its former player.
Combattant et généreux, tu rêvais et méritais le maillot de l'Albiceleste. L’intégralité des bénéfices liés aux ventes de ce maillot sera allouée aux deux clubs formateurs argentins d’Emiliano.
— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) January 21, 2020
— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) January 21, 2020
“Fighting and generous, you dreamed and deserved the Albiceleste jersey. All profits from the sales of this jersey will be allocated to the two Argentinian training clubs of Emiliano,” said a statement from Nantes.
The club paid tribute to Sala in the first game after his death. This year, the club said it plans to have tributes again remembering the Argentine.
All of the money made from the jersey sales will be given to the two Argentine clubs that Sala trained with before coming to play in Europe.
The 28-year-old made over 100 appearances for Nantes and scored 48 goals.