Cardiff City earlier on requested Nantes to dig into what could have caused the death of their signing Emilliano Sala but stated that they were not defying in any way to pay for the transfer fee of the player.
But things have taken a new twist after the French club Nantes made a formal complaint to FIFA over the Emiliano Sala transfer.
Mirror Sport can reveal that Nantes have now contacted football’s world governing body as they seek payment of the first £5m instalment of the £15m transfer.
Nantes have already sent a legal letter asking for payment, extended the deadline but now are determined to take action to pursue the claim against Cardiff .
A FIFA spokesperson told Mirror Sport: “We can confirm that we have received yesterday evening a claim from FC Nantes against Cardiff City in connection with the transfer of Emiliano Sala.
“We are looking into the matter and consequently we have no further comments at this stage.”
It could be that Nantes who also owe a large sell on to Bordeaux are asking FIFA to rule on the case and reclaim the money from the transfer.
Cardiff have launched a full scale investigation into the tragic events as they are currently due to pay £15m having signed Sala in the January transfer window.
But the small private plane carrying Sala from France to Cardiff crashed last month and the body of the Argentinian striker has been recovered.
However, the pilot’s body David Ibbotson is still missing and investigations are ongoing though the chances of finding him have grown scanty.
Cardiff are concerned that if the plane was not insured and the pilot did not have a licence then they could be liable while agent Willie McKay is also under the spotlight.