The error that might rob Sala's family of payout

The family of Emiliano Sala have been dealt a fresh blow in the wake of the footballer’s tragic death in late January.

An administrative error could prevent the Sala family from claiming £600,000 ($1.1M AUD) in compensation for his death.

The club who signed Sala, Cardiff City, made an error when registering his contract with the English Premier League.

According to The Times, the league had to send some of the documents back to Cardiff after they had been lodged, including some that needed to be signed again by Sala.

However, the 28-year-old died in a plane crash before he could complete the paperwork.

Players are automatically enrolled onto the Professional Footballers’ Association’s pension scheme when they are registered with the Premier League.

The registration includes a £600,000 fee to relatives for death-in-service.

Association chief executive John Bramhall said the trustees of the fund would have to decide whether or not to honour the payment in light of the error.

Some reports have suggested the PFA will call for the fund to honour the payment, as Sala had already signed his contract with Cardiff.

“It will be for the trustees to see whether they are able to make the payment from there.

“Normally it would be a simple process but we will be speaking with them on this.

“Usually, as soon as a contract is registered with the Premier League the player is enrolled on the pension scheme.”

Sala’s body was recovered from the crash site and transferred to his native Argentina.

His funeral was last Saturday