The Challenge Emiliano Sala is an annual friendly football competition played in honour of Argentine footballer

Emiliano Sala Emiliano Raúl Sala Taffarel (; 31 October 1990 – 21 January 2019) was an Argentine professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. After playing youth football in Argentina and following ...

, who died on 21 January 2019 in a plane crash. The participating clubs in the first edition in 2021 were

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

Stade Malherbe Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, Malherbe, or simply Caen) is a Football in France, French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, that competes in the Championnat Na ...

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

, and

Chamois Niortais Chamois Niortais Football Club (; often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) are a French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwest ...

, all former clubs of Sala. It took place at the

Stade de la Source Stade de la Source is a football stadium in Orléans, France. It is the current home of US Orléans. The stadium is able to hold 7,533 people and was opened in 1976. References Source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document ...

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and US Orléans Union Sportive Orléans Loiret Football (; commonly referred to as US Orléans or simply Orléans) is a French association football club based in Orléans. The club was founded in 1976 and currently play in Championnat National after being releg ...

, another club for which Sala played.

History

The Challenge Emiliano Sala is organized by the ''Un jour meilleur'' association founded by former

US Orléans Union Sportive Orléans Loiret Football (; commonly referred to as US Orléans or simply Orléans) is a French association football club based in Orléans. The club was founded in 1976 and currently play in Championnat National after being releg ...

defender Cédric Cambon with the support of the city of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and 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. For each ticket sold to matches of the competition, one

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

is donated to the Emiliano Sala solidarity fund, started by

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, 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 in Argentina. The rest of each ticket's price is given to the ''Un jour meilleur'' association. A charity gala and an auction of football kits are also organized during the three days of the tournament in order to raise funds. The first edition of the tournament took place from 16 to 18 July 2021 at the

in Orléans. The first semi-final was played between

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, and the second semi-final was played between

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Caen eliminated Nantes with a 1–0 win thanks to a goal from

Yoann Court Yoann Court (born 14 January 1990) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), left winger for Serbian club FK IMT, IMT. He has been capped at France national under-20 football team, Fr ...

, and Bordeaux won against Niort in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

(5–3) after a 1–1 draw in which

Jimmy Briand Jimmy Julien Briand (born 2 August 1985) is a French former professional footballer. He started his career as a striker, but was later used as a winger, playing in Ligue 1 for Rennes, Lyon, Guingamp and Bordeaux, as well as in the Bundesliga wi ...

opened the scoring for ''Les Girondins'' and

Guy Kilama Guy-Marcelin Kilama Kilama (born 30 May 1999) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Süper Lig club Hatayspor and the Cameroon national team. Professional career On 30 January 2018, Kilama joined Chamois Niortais ...

equalized for ''Les Chamois''. On 18 July, Nantes and Niort played in the

third place playoff Many sports playoffs and knockout tournaments include a third place playoff, third place match, bronze medal game, or consolation game to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing third and fourth. This game is typically c ...

the Challenge Emiliano Sala. Niort won the match, securing third place in the competition thanks to a goal from Mathis Ansar. 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 Sékou Mara (born 30 July 2002) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club RC Strasbourg Alsace, Strasbourg. Club career Bordeaux Mara made his professional de ...

secured the win for FCGB. Bordeaux therefore won the first edition of the Challenge Emiliano Sala. 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. The club's head coach,

Antoine Kombouaré Antoine Krilone Kombouaré (; born 16 November 1963) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Nantes. Playing career Born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Komboua ...

, explained the decision by saying, "Between the demotion of Bordeaux o the Championnat National">Championnat_National.html" ;"title="o the Championnat National">o the Championnat Nationaland this limited workforce, I had to make this decision." 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.

Past winners

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
French football friendly trophies 2021 establishments in France Recurring sporting events established in 2021