Dorset Police say the body recovered from a plane which crashed in the English Channel has been formally identified as Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala.
Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson have been missing since the plane they were flying in lost contact with Air Traffic Control on Monday, January 21.
The Piper Malibu aircraft was found on the seabed of the English Channel on Sunday morning - and a body was recovered from the wreckage on Wednesday.
A Dorset Police statement on Thursday night read: "The body brought to Portland Port today, Thursday 7 February 2019, has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala.
Sala had been en route from Nantes in western France on January 21 to make his debut for Cardiff City when the plane he was travelling on disappeared. The single-engined Piper Malibu aircraft had crashed into the sea.
The wreckage was found on Sunday following a privately-funded underwater search, and Dorset Police have confirmed that the body recovered from the wreckage was that of Sala.
“The body brought to Portland Port today, Thursday 7 February 2019, has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala,” read a statement on Dorset Police’s website.
Dorset Police
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@dorsetpolice
#Update The body brought to Portland Port today has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala.
The families of Mr Sala and pilot David Ibbotson have been updated. Our thoughts remain with them all
“The families of Mr Sala and the pilot David Ibbotson have been updated with this news and will continue to be supported by specially-trained family liaison officers. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.
“HM Coroner will continue to investigate the circumstances of this death supported by Dorset Police.”
Sala had agreed to join Welsh club Cardiff for a club-record fee of £15m from French club Nantes.
On Saturday at Cardiff's home Premier League match against Bournemouth, the Cardiff players held up a T-shirt bearing the image of Sala, who never played a game for the club, after the team scored in the fifth minute.
Fans were handed daffodils as they entered the Cardiff City Stadium. In the 28th minute, a round of applause swelled around the stadium as fans sang Sala's name.
On January 30, Nantes paid tribute to their former player. Referee Frank Schneider stopped play in the Ligue 1 match against St Etienne for a minute of applause during which Nantes coach Vahid Halilhodzic was in tears.
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