1 Comment

Why West Ham didn’t wear black armbands

West Ham and AFC Wimbledon players did not wear black armbands for Sala during their Cup clash with West Ham on Saturday evening out respect to his family wishes.  Earlier FA Cup games during the day saw the introduction of black armbands by the FA for the missing striker.

The BBC later explained his family contacted the FA and said they didn’t want the black armbands because the player has not been confirmed as dead yet. Millwall and Everton were the other game to ditch the planned use of black armbands.
Yesterday, West Ham Vice Chairman spoke about the tragedy in Sun Football column by saying “The tragic disappearance of Emiliano Sala after a light aircraft crash will leave Cardiff and football with a huge emotional loss. It’s so sad what has happened to such a talented young man with the world at his feet. I am told many clubs have been calling the Premier League, each other and the PFA to check insurance cover when players book their own flights.

Sala decided to return to his new headquarters in a single-engine Piper PA-46, apparently refusing Cardiff’s offer of a commercial flight.

Most club chairmen, including mine, regard single-engine flights risky and would surely have strongly advised Sala not to travel in the Piper.

Our club’s flights are in a 45-seater and even this transport unsettles a few players. So what can Cardiff and Sala’s family expect of insurance cover, beside his own? The Premier League and players’ union are looking into what is bound to be a complicated problem.

If Sala’s transfer has been registered with the Premier League, his family will be entitled to a 4x salary union benefit, up to a cap of £600,000.

The Cardiff case is even more knotty because of the proximity of Sala’s signing to his death. The PL may make exceptions but their current payment will almost certainly be under £1million, perhaps nothing at all. Neither would his new club receive a penny under their catastrophe cover, should they have it.

In insurance terms, it needs three players’ deaths to amount to a catastrophe. In boss Neil Warnock’s terms one is more than enough to qualify. The search continues and we all pray for a miracle.”

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

One comment on “Why West Ham didn’t wear black armbands

  1. What I’d like to know is, why are things always badly timed on the club official website. The Arnie grovelling to the fans video straight after getting knocked out the cup. And then followed up with a vote for your favourite Dicanio goal the best of which as we all know because it was voted goal of the century or something, Dicanio s goal against, yes you guessed it, Wimbledon.

Comments are closed.