Emiliano Sala boarding passes printed ahead of Swansea vs Cardiff derby as repulsive fans mock tragic striker

SWANSEA CITY have condemned a disgraceful fake boarding passes that mocked tragic striker Emiliano Sala. An image circulated on social media ahead of the South Wales Derby between Swansea and rivals Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon. It is not known who created the images. The boarding pass was marked with ‘Swansea City Airlines’ and included […]

SWANSEA CITY have condemned a disgraceful fake boarding passes that mocked tragic striker Emiliano Sala.

An image circulated on social media ahead of the South Wales Derby between Swansea and rivals Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon.

It is not known who created the images.

The boarding pass was marked with ‘Swansea City Airlines’ and included Emiliano Sala’s name, as well as the flight number: D3AD.

The departure city is named as Nantes, destination Cardiff, while the captain is Mikey Dye – a Cardiff fan who was killed at an England vs Wales match in 2011.

Argentinian football Sala died in January when the private plane he was travelling in from Nantes to Cardiff crashed in the English channel.

He had been on his way to Wales to complete a £15million move from France.

Pilot David Ibbotson also died in the crash.

A Swansea spokesman said: “We are aware of the disgraceful images and are currently investigating who and where they originated from.

“They are shameful and do not represent this football club or our supporters in any way. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards any discriminatory, unacceptable or anti-social behaviour, and this will be enforced rigorously before, during and after Sunday’s South Wales derby.

“Any supporters displaying this type of material or behaving in a manner that is unacceptable will face criminal proceedings.

“The club will be strongly supporting the Police in any public order or hate crime prosecutions surrounding these images and any related incidents during Sunday’s fixture.”

Supporters of both clubs took to social media to to condemn the image.

The two rivals have not met since 2014 when both clubs were in the Premier League.

South Wales Police are expected to have a considerable match day presence – and have also confirmed they will be using facial recognition technology in a bid to prevent trouble.

They said: “The technology helps identify those who have been issued with banning orders and may attempt to attend the game.

“Our watchlist, as always, is event-specific and is only being used to reduce the threat of or likelihood of disorder.

“Those on our watchlist have previously been convicted of offences at football matches and all have valid banning orders not to attend Sunday’s game.”

Neil Warnock also hopes the game will pass without incident.

The Bluebirds boss said: “My biggest hope is that both sets of fans behave themselves.

“You just have to look at the rugby World Cup, I saw the Japanese mixing in with opposing fans sat next to each other.

“We have to learn from other people. We can enjoy it without all the hostilities.”