Barcelona star Lionel Messi spoke out for his compatriot
The tag of ‘The Beautiful Game’ has been justified more than once in the last few weeks, following the disappearance of a plane carrying Emiliano Sala over the English Channel. Now, Barcelona captain has also joined his colleagues in throwing his weight behind the search for Sala.
After extensive negotiations and talks with Cardiff head coach Neil Warnock, Emiliano Sala had decided to move to the Premier League. The fee was set at €17.2 million, a record deal for Cardiff in an attempt to save themselves from relegation just one season after promotion.
But a little more than an hour after boarding a Piper PA-46 Malibu to Wales, contact was lost with Jersey air traffic control. Since then, there has been no trace of the aeroplane, which took off from the Nantes Atlantique Airport.
The HM Coastguard, the French Navy and some lifeboats from Alderney and Guernsey initially co-operated in a much-publicised rescue operation. But due to logistical issues, the governmental initiative was called, to widespread resistance.
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Now, the football fraternity has joined hands to answer the call of Sala’s sister, Romina. The 28-year old centre-forward’s compatriots Sergio Agüero, Nicolás Otamendi, Gonzalo Higuaín, Federico Fernández and now Leo Messi have protested against the cancelling of the operation.
The hashtag #NoDejenDeBuscar, translating to ‘Do Not Stop Searching’ became a trend among footballers, along with #PrayForSala. Sala’s former teammate at Nantes, Fábio and international stars Axel Witsel and Florian Thauvin also joined in paying tribute.
"Messi said, “While there is possibility, even a shred of hope, we ask don’t stop searching.”"
The beauty of the sport reveals itself in difficult moments such as these. Even tragedy strikes, the fiercest of rivals come together to stand up for the sufferer. This goes to show the humane quality associated with football.
We at Everything Barca also pay tribute to Emiliano Sala, and our thoughts are with his family. We hope that no one abandons hope, as that is the only thing one can cling on to right now. We also implore the British and French governments to renew the search, and aid the private search party funded by the likes of Laurent Koscielny and Kylian Mbappé.
#NoDejenDeBuscar
#PrayForSala