Nantes’ game was stopped in the ninth minute.
Nantes’ match with Saint-Etienne was paused on Wednesday evening as players, staff and supporters paid an emotional tribute to missing former striker, Emilano Sala.
Sala had completed a move to Cardiff City earlier this month but has been missing since the aircraft carrying him from Nantes to the Welsh capital disappeared over the English Channel.
The game at Stade de la Beaujoire was halted in the ninth minute (Sala had worn the number nine shirt at Nantes) so that those present could pay tribute.
The emotion of the occasion was obvious. His former teammates and their opponents joined in with the supporters’ applause, while the crowd could also be heard singing Sala’s name. Vahid Halilhodžić, Nantes’ manager, also appeared to be in tears towards the end of the footage below.
This is lovely. FC Nantes’ match tonight stopped in the 9th minute as a tribute to Emiliano Sala. https://t.co/mAAxoVWrjr
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) January 30, 2019
Earlier on Wednesday, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch released a statement saying that two seat cushions found by authorities on a beach in northern France are likely to have come from the plane that had been carrying Sala.
