Several high profile footballers have donated to the fund
Over €187,000 has been raised to fund the search for Emiliano Sala, which was called off by Guernsey Police on Thursday, with any chance of survival ‘extremely remote’.
Sala had just moved from FC Nantes to Cardiff City when he went missing after a small aircraft he was on went down over the English Channel.
After an extensive search, Guernsey Police announced that they had ‘taken the difficult decision to end the search’.
They did clarify, though, that: “Although we are no longer actively searching, the incident remains open and and we will be broadcasting to all vessels and aircraft in the area to keep a look out for any trace of the aircraft. This will continue indefinitely.”
Both Sala’s father and sister pleaded with the authorities to continue the search, as did FC Nantes.
And now a fundraiser has been raised by the public to fund the search for the 28-year-old.
The GoFundMe page, set up by ‘Sport Cover’, says: “This pot was created in the face of the urgency of the situation and the decision of the authorities not to continue the search. Its sole purpose, through a specialised non-profit organisation, is to help Emiliano’s family and pilot Dave Ibbotson. Thank you for donating the amount you want.”
Its name references the hashtag which has gained traction on social media: #NoDejenDeBuscar, which translates to ‘don’t stop searching.’
The donations keep pouring in, having gone up by €2000 since I started writing this news story. Among the donators are Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, Valencia’s Geoffrey Kondogbia and Bayern Munich’s Clorentin Tolisso.
The fundraiser aims to raise €300k and is well on track to reach that amount.
Ilkay Gundogan, Clorentin Tolisso, Lucas Lima, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Benoit Costil, Leo Dubois, Demarai Gray, Fabio, Clement Grenier and Nordi Mukiele are among the footballers to donate to fund to continue search for Sala, currently at €100k.
Donate 👉🏻 https://t.co/7ra0GnPQmP— Scott Salter ❌ (@scottsltr) January 25, 2019
