Challenge Emiliano Sala
Organising bodyUn jour meilleur
Founded2021
Number of teams4
Current championsBordeaux (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Bordeaux (1 title)
Websitechallenge-emilianosala.fr

The Challenge Emiliano Sala is an annual friendly football competition played in honour of Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala, who died on 21 January 2019 in a plane crash. The participating clubs in the first edition in 2021 were Girondins de Bordeaux, Stade Malherbe Caen, FC Nantes, and Chamois Niortais, all former clubs of Sala.[1][2]

History

The Challenge Emiliano Sala is organized by the Un jour meilleur association founded by former US Orléans defender Cédric Cambon with the support of the city of Orléans.[3][4] The inspiration for the creation of the competition came from Thomas Renault, sports assistant in the town of Orléans and former US Orléans goalkeeper who played alongside Emiliano Sala at USO.[5][6][7]

For each ticket sold to matches of the competition, one euro is donated to the Emiliano Sala solidarity fund, started by Cardiff City, who had signed him from Nantes shortly before his death. This fund has the objective of collecting €2.25 million to create a new stadium bearing Sala's name in his native town of Progreso in Argentina.[5] The rest of each ticket's price is given to the Un jour meilleur association.[5][7] A charity gala and an auction of football kits are also organized during the three days of the tournament in order to raise funds.[4][8]

The first edition of the tournament took place from 16 to 18 July 2021 at the Stade de la Source in Orléans.[9] The first semi-final was played between Nantes and Caen, and the second semi-final was played between Niort and Bordeaux.[2] Caen eliminated Nantes with a 1–0 win thanks to a goal from Yoann Court,[10] and Bordeaux won against Niort in a penalty shoot-out (5–3) after a 1–1 draw in which Jimmy Briand opened the scoring for Les Girondins and Guy Kilama equalized for Les Chamois.[11][12] On 18 July, Nantes and Niort played in the third place playoff the Challenge Emiliano Sala. Niort won the match, securing third place in the competition thanks to a goal from Mathis Ansar.[13] The final of the first edition of the tournament was therefore played between Caen and Bordeaux, a game in which Bordeaux was victorious by a score of 2–1. Caen opened the scoring with a goal from Vladislav Molchan, but goals from Rémi Oudin and Sékou Mara secured the win for FCGB.[14] Bordeaux therefore won the first edition of the Challenge Emiliano Sala.[15]

The second edition of the Challenge Emiliano Sala was scheduled to take place 16–17 July 2022, with the participating teams being Bordeaux, Caen, Nantes, and Orléans. However, the competition was cancelled after Nantes pulled out on 6 July.[16][17] The club's head coach, Antoine Kombouaré, explained the decision by saying, "Between the demotion of Bordeaux [to the Championnat National] and this limited workforce, I had to make this decision."[18] In 2023, the Challenge Emiliano Sala was once again cancelled, in part due to the Stade de la Source's pitch needing to be maintained for the new season.[19]

Past winners

Past winners of the Challenge Emiliano Sala
Edition Location Final Third place playoff
Champion Score Runner-up Third Score Fourth
2021 Stade de la Source, Orléans Bordeaux 2–1 Caen Niort 1–0 Nantes

References

  1. ↑ "Emiliano Sala". Challenge Emiliano Sala. Archived from the original on 2021-07-20. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Le challenge Emiliano Sala aura lieu à partir du 16 juillet à Orléans" [Le Challenge Emiliano Sala will take place starting on 16 July in Orléans]. L'Équipe (in French). 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-01. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Guéroult, François (3 June 2021). "Orléans accueillera cet été un tournoi hommage au footballeur Emiliano Sala... mais sans l'USO !" [Orléans will host this summer a tournament in honour of footballer Emiliano Sala... but without USO!]. France Bleu (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 Genetay, Inès (16 July 2021). "Orléans : trois jours de football pour honorer la mémoire d'Emiliano Sala" [Orléans: three days of football to honour the memory of Emiliano Sala]. Actu Chartres (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Football : on connaît les contours du premier Challenge Emiliano Sala organisé cet été à Orléans" [Football: we know the outline of the first Challenge Emiliano Sala organized this summer at Orléans]. France Bleu (in French). 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Football. Origine, équipes, programme… Tout savoir sur le premier challenge Emiliano-Sala" [Football. Origin, teams, program... Everything to know about the first Challenge Emiliano Sala]. Ouest-France (in French). 17 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-17. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  7. 1 2 Guéroult, François (4 June 2021). "Thomas Renault s'explique sur le tournoi Emiliano Sala à Orléans : "Je reconnais une maladresse"". France Bleu (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Laurent, Mazure (3 July 2021). "Challenge Emiliano Sala – Cédric Cambon : " Beaucoup d'ambitions pour cet événement "" [Challenge Emiliano Sala – Cédric Cambon: "Many ambitions for this event"]. MaLigue2 (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "Challenge Emiliano Sala, toutes les infos" [Challenge Emiliano Sala, all the information] (in French). FC Girondins de Bordeaux. 16 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-19. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Briard, Gaëtan (17 July 2021). "Football. En amical, le SM Caen domine le FC Nantes au Challenge Emiliano Sala" [Football. In a friendly, SM Caen dominates FC Nantes in the Challenge Emiliano Sala]. Ouest-France (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-07-17. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  11. ↑ Van Acker, Hugo (16 July 2021). "Amical : Bordeaux domine Niort aux tirs au but" [Friendly: Bordeaux dominates Niort in a penalty shoot-out]. Ouest-France (in French). MadeinFOOT. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Willems, Victor (16 July 2021). "Bordeaux en finale du challenge Emiliano Sala après son succès face à Niort" [Bordeaux in the final of the Challenge Emiliano Sala after their success against Niort]. Foot National (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Challenge Emiliano-Sala. Battu par Niort, le FC Nantes quitte Orléans sans le moindre succès" [Challenge Emiliano-Sala. Beaten by Niort, FC Nantes leaves Orléans without the slighest success]. Ouest-France (in French). 18 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  14. ↑ Bertin, Tom (18 July 2021). "Challenge Emiliano-Sala. Les Girondins de Bordeaux disposent difficilement du SM Caen" [Challenge Emiliano-Sala. The Girondins de Bordeaux dispose of SM Caen with difficulty]. Ouest-France (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Amical : Bordeaux remporte le Challenge Emiliano-Sala après sa victoire contre Caen (L2)" [Friendly: Bordeaux wins the Challenge Emiliano-Sala after the victory against Caen (L2)]. L'Équipe (in French). 18 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "Nantes withdraws from Challenge Emiliano Sala". Ghanamma.con. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "the second edition of the Emiliano Sala challenge canceled". Lookcharms.com. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  18. ↑ "FC Nantes. Why Antoine Kombouaré decided not to go to the Challenge Emiliano Sala in Orléans". Lookcharms.com. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  19. ↑ Guéroult, François (19 June 2023). "Football : le challenge Emiliano Sala ne fera pas son retour cet été à Orléans". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
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