The sister of missing footballer Emiliano Sala has said she believes he is still alive and begged rescuers not to call off the search. Romina Sala travelled to the UK today to meet with Cardiff City FC officials only for the search to be brought to a close at 3.15pm. The Premier League player, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson, 60, were travelling on a light aircraft from Nantes in France to Cardiff on Monday evening when it vanished over the English Channel.
But immediately after the hunt for the pair was called off, Romina issued a heartfelt plea to resume looking. She said: ‘We understand the facts and we really appreciate the efforts.
‘We want to say thanks to the two clubs (Cardiff City and Nantes FC) and everyone who is looking for Emiliano, but my message is please, please, please don’t stop with the search. For me, they are still alive. ‘It is very difficult to express my feelings at the moment because it is really hard. ‘We have had a lot of support from the two clubs and I thank all the fans for their efforts, but deep down in the bottom of my heart I know that Emiliano – who is a fighter – is still alive. I know Emiliano and the pilot are somewhere in the middle of the channel. ‘We are not going to give up.’
Guernsey Police has spent most of the week looking for the pair, and rescue teams have scanned around 1,700 square miles and examined mobile phone data and satellite imagery but had not found ‘any trace’ of the plane. Guernsey’s harbour master, Captain David Barker said on Wednesday that the chances Sala and Mr Ibbotson had survived were ‘extremely remote’.
Shortly before the plane vanished he sent WhatsApp voice messages to his friends saying that he felt scared.
He could be heard saying: ‘Hey guys, how is it going? Brother, I am really tired now. I was over in Nantes sorting things out, doing this, doing that. ‘I am now aboard a plane that seems like it is falling to pieces. ‘I’m going to Cardiff now, crazy, and tomorrow we get going. I will train with my new team tomorrow.’ A little later he asks if everyone is ‘all good’ before saying: ‘If you do not have any more news from me in an hour and a half, I don’t know if they need to send someone to find me. I am getting scared!’