International Football
EMILIANO SALA PLANE CRASH: PILOT’S LICENCE FOR SCRUTINY
The pilot of the plane that crashed with Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala on board did not have a licence for commercial flights, investigators say.
According to a BBC report, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed David Ibbotson held a private pilot’s licence, which meant he could not carry passengers for reward.
Its interim report said he could only fly passengers in the European Union on a cost sharing basis.
It has yet to establish if this was the case with Sala.
The validity of 59-year-old Mr Ibbotson’s licence at the time of the 21 January crash will form part of the AAIB’s investigations going forward.
Sala was found in the wreckage of the Piper Malibu N264DB, which was found on the seabed 13 days after it vanished over the English Channel near Guernsey.
He had completed his transfer to Premier League side Cardiff from French club Nantes just two days earlier – for a club record fee of £15m – and had returned to France to say goodbye to his former teammates.
Mr Ibbotson has not yet been found and his family hope a fresh search for his body will begin this week after setting up an online fundraising campaign which has raised £250,000.
The aircraft remains underwater off the coast of Guernsey after an attempt to recover it was hampered by bad weather.
As flying is an expensive pastime, cost sharing allows pilots to notch up their flying hours while sharing the cost of fuel, landing fees and other expenses with passengers.
The AAIB report said the basis on which Sala was being carried on N264DB “has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of ‘cost sharing’”.
Cost sharing on private flights is allowed in the UK and the report said Mr Ibbotson, of Crowle, North Lincolnshire, had operated these type of flights before.
However, the report added that because the aircraft was US-registered, it was subject to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, which meant he could only make the flight legally if he was paying half the operating expenses.
In addition, Mr Ibbotson needed a “bona fide purpose” for making the flight – also known in aviation as “common purpose” – and must dictate when the flight should leave, the report added.
It is understood the flight’s departure was delayed to allow Sala to say goodbye to his Nantes teammates before he left.
The report said that, on the basis of a cost-sharing flight, it “must not be made for the purpose of merely transporting the passenger”.
This is one area the AAIB said needed further investigation.
The AAIB said the plane was found in three parts on the seabed after a submersible with cameras was sent underwater.
It was “extensively damaged” and the wreckage was held together by electrical and flying control cables, while the engine was disconnected from the cockpit area.
The AAIB said it had been unable to establish how much flying Mr Ibbotson had done recently, as his pilot’s licence and logbook had been lost.
Investigators would normally look to establish how many hours a pilot had flown in the preceding 28 and 90 days before a crash.
Mr Ibbotson had approximately 3,700 flying hours and held a private pilot’s licence in the UK and US.
Air accident investigators will continue to look at all “operational, technical, organisational and human factors” which might have contributed to the crash.
One focus will be further analysis of the
radar information to try and understand the final moments of the flight.
Investigators will analyse video from the wreckage in a bid to determine how the aircraft entered the sea.
An AAIB spokesman said: “We have gathered evidence from radar, weather reports, video of the aircraft on the seabed and interviews with witnesses.
“Some operational aspects are yet to be determined, such as the validity of the pilot’s licence and ratings.
“Our priority now is to go through the evidence, much of which is extensive and complex, so we can piece together what happened between the aircraft being lost from radar and it coming to rest on the sea bed.
“This will help us understand the potential causes of the accident.”
The remit of the AAIB, which is a branch of the Department for Transport, is to conduct safety investigations into the cause of aviation accidents without apportioning blame or liability.
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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