A minute’s silence for Cardiff City’s Emiliano Sala will be observed at all Champions League and Europa League games this week.
The 28-year-old died after the plane he was travelling in from Nantes to Cardiff lost contact with air traffic control over the English Channel on January 21. The pilot, David Ibbotson, is still missing.
Sala’s body was formally identified on February 7 after being recovered from the underwater wreckage last week and brought to shore.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin says he urges “supporters across the continent to pay their respects to his memory over the coming days.” Pilot Ibbotson is still missing.
“On behalf of everyone at UEFA, I would like to express my sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of Emiliano Sala for their loss,” Ceferin said in a statement on UEFA’s website.
“I am deeply saddened that his life was so cruelly taken away at such a young age and I urge supporters across the continent to pay their respects to his memory over the coming days.”
UEFA also said clubs have the option of wearing black armbands in memory of the Argentine forward.
Both Cardiff City and Sala’s former club Nantes have paid tribute to the striker since confirmation of his death.
Nantes paid a final tribute to their former striker on Sunday. There was a minute of applause before kick-off and a representative from Cardiff travelled to La Beaujoire Stadium to hand the French club a shirt from the Welsh side.
The Argentina-born forward was in a single-engine aircraft flying from Nantes in France to start his new career with English Premier League club Cardiff.
The Champions League returns on Tuesday, with Manchester United hosting Paris Saint-Germain and Roma clashing with Porto, with the Tottenham Hotspur’s tie with Borussia Dortmund following on Wednesday alongside Real Madrid’s match with Ajax.
A total of 16 matches will be played in the Europa League on Thursday, including Arsenal’s clash with BATE Borisov and Chelsea’s meeting with Malmo.
