Pretty much fully four years on, the Emiliano Sala tragedy is still casting a shadow over Wales' capital city club.
It remains a hugely complicated matter, unprecedented anywhere in football history, and it is likely to drag on for a while yet, too.
In a new twist, Cardiff City have confirmed they are under a transfer embargo for not paying Nantes the first instalment of the £15million Sala transfer fee. The figure stands in excess of £6m with interest.
Given the way this issue has played out, amid a myriad of court cases, the club feel it is way too simplistic to just say 'Cardiff owe the money, pay up'. Cardiff believe they have been dealt a really raw hand here, don't have the money anyway, and even if they did say they would be loathe to part with it readily given the unique circumstances.
Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman met key supporters group leaders before the hugely disappointing 1-1 draw with Blackpool on Saturday to explain the club stance and asked for them to feed that standpoint back to the fans.
We're told the fan leaders present were grateful for the open dialogue, accepted the arguments put forward and were supportive of Cardiff owner Vincent Tan continuing to fight this case and do what he believes is best for the football club.
As always, however, there will be critics of the fact the Sala matter is dragging on and on, particularly as Mark Hudson's team look likely to be locked in a relegation battle during 2023 and have been hindered further with the transfer embargo.
This is the highly complex situation as it stands:
The transfer ban
Cardiff confirmed before the Blackpool game there is a three-window embargo in place, the first of which kicks in on January 1. Put simply, as things stand it means manager Mark Hudson cannot bring in new players to strengthen the squad when the transfer window opens on New Year's Day.
The use of the three words 'as things stand' is significant for Cardiff because they are working hard behind the scenes to try to get the embargo lifted in time. Indeed, Dalman says he is "confident" the matter can be resolved by the time the Christmas period is over.
Cardiff won't go into detail of exactly what is happening and the private arguments they are putting forward, but they are locked in intensive talks with various parties, including the Football League and FIFA. It could be that a compromise deal will be struck with Nantes, although the French club would have to play ball for this to happen.
Despite the uniqueness of the Sala situation, FIFA felt compelled to issue the embargo for technical reasons under football laws. The ban is in place because FIFA previously ruled that Sala was a Cardiff player at the time of his death, when the plane he was travelling in crashed into the English Channel, and thus the Bluebirds are liable for the transfer fee. Cardiff appealed against this decision to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, but they upheld the FIFA decision.
So Nantes slapped in their demand for the first Sala fee instalment. Cardiff, who are pursuing other legal avenues, dispute the payment and aren't giving Nantes the money. Hence the transfer embargo.
Hudson was coy after the Blackpool game when asked which areas of the team he wished to strengthen in January, saying those conversations have taken place behind the scenes but he wasn't going to make it public. While he has identified individuals, Hudson said: "But they are at other clubs and it wouldn't be right to talk about them."
It is believed, however, in an ideal world Hudson wants a new striker, midfield man and left-back. As Cardiff try to navigate their way out of the transfer embargo, Hudson has been told he should regard it as "business as usual" for the time being in terms of looking at targets.
Whether he will actually be able to sign them we will only know for certain once January kicks in. At the moment, he can't.
Cardiff are concerned that "transfer embargo" has made the headlines and dominated the talk, but the club hierarchy and their respected lawyer Chris Nott, of Capital Law, explained to the supporters' leaders the reason why they are continuing to fight this matter. They remain adamant they are doing the right thing and say the fan leaders they spoke to were understanding of the stance.
This has been confirmed by fan leaders we spoke to who were present at the meeting with Dalman, Nott, chief executive Ken Choo and the club's finance chief.
Looking at the social media outcry, other supporters evidently aren't so understanding of the situation.
The legal process
Cardiff are continuing to take action via the courts and various fresh litigation is looming.
They have appealed the Court of Arbitration verdict via the higher Swiss Federal Court. An outcome on that appeal is expected by the end of January, or perhaps early February.
Cardiff's case to CAS was twofold.
Point one was to ask judges to reconsider the FIFA decision on which club owned Sala, Cardiff or Nantes? Cardiff remain adamant he was still a Nantes player as he wasn't properly registered to play in the Premier League owing to an error in the contract which needed to be rectified upon the player's arrival in the Welsh capital. The Football Association of Wales say their registration of the transfer forms was complete at their end.
Point two, in the event of Cardiff losing point one, was about who should then compensate Cardiff for the tragedy which unfolded. CAS determined Sala was a Cardiff player, but at the end of their hearing deemed they were not qualified to decide on point two. Cardiff are unhappy with that outcome and have moved to the Swiss Federal Court, a higher body, with the appeal.
This can likely go one of two ways. The Federal Court either send the matter back to CAS with a recommendation to rethink. Or they can uphold the CAS decision, in which case Cardiff are prepared to pursue a civil action against Nantes for damages.
This would take place in the French courts and could be a claim for anything between £20m and £200m. The former would cover the transfer fee while the second figure, one presumes, would cover monies Cardiff felt they could have received had Sala kept them in the Premier League.
Neil Warnock, the Bluebirds boss at the time, is adamant the striker would have scored the goals to keep Cardiff in the top flight.
Cardiff are said to be confident over their claim for damages. It is understood French law is quite specific with regards employment contracts and, despite FIFA's technical football judgement, Cardiff feel they can prove Sala was still officially contracted to Nantes under French law at the time of the accident.
In the meantime, the Bluebirds are also suing Miller Insurances LLP, saying the broker failed to properly communicate the process for immediately insuring new players. In their bid to the High Court, Cardiff claim Miller Insurance failed to act with the reasonable skill and care expected of an insurance broker.
Well, we did say the matter was incredibly complicated.
The battle to avoid relegation
Amid the off-field issues, Cardiff have genuine concerns on the pitch which many fear are exacerbated by the transfer embargo.
Cardiff owner Vincent Tan felt a month ago that his Bluebirds were good enough to push for the Championship top six, with some strengthening in the new year. The reality staring them in the face is they are locked in a fight to avoid going down into League One. Tan is quite right in saying the league is incredibly congested this year and with a few wins strung together, Cardiff could quite quickly rise nearer the top.
However, conversely it is also tight down at the bottom and failure to beat fellow strugglers Blackpool at home on Saturday leaves Cardiff perilously close to the relegation spots, just two points off the bottom three, heading into Christmas.
Cardiff played well for the most part against Blackpool, missed a glut of chances, were on the wrong end of refereeing decisions and should have won comfortably. But they didn't - and as such manager Hudson needs to look at the way his team capitulated in the second half and put measures in place to ensure that doesn't happen again.
Cardiff face QPR at home, then Coventry and Blackburn away over the festive period and have to pick up good results to avoid being sucked into the bottom three. Once in there, it becomes a right old dogfight, confidence is drained and it can sometimes be hard to get out of.
With or without January transfer signings, Cardiff's hierarchy and Hudson himself believe the squad is more than good enough to earn a comfortable mid-table finish. And they are probably right, too. It is down to the manager to make the sum of the parts work, create a ruthless streak in the side to turn draws into victories and defeats into draws.
Hudson pointed out after the Blackpool disappointment that players are returning to fitness - Rubin Colwill, Issak Davies and Ebou Adams among them - while younger ones are developing. As such, frustrated or not by the transfer embargo, he feels he can get the team climbing up the table with the personnel already at his disposal.
And, as a result of the painstaking work done during the summer window by the club, Hudson does have lots of options. This Cardiff squad of players may lack in certain areas, but they are more than good enough to be ensconced in mid-table.
Time to stick together
This was the message from the manager post-Blackpool: "We need to stick together, players, fans, the whole football club. We have to believe."
Clearly there will be lots of critics of Tan. He hasn't helped himself with some poor managerial appointments. But there are also lots of fans who feel that without Tan dipping into his deep pockets, the club would be in a even more perilous state. Judge as you see fit.
One issue Cardiff's finance chief was keen to emphasise to the supporters' leaders at the weekend was this so-called suggestion Cardiff have supposedly set the money aside for Sala, so just use that to pay Nantes. That was merely a profit and loss balance sheet provision they had put in place for accounting purposes, which is different to actually possessing the hard cash.
The club say they don't have the money to pay the initial instalment to Nantes. As such, Tan would need to dig deep into his pockets again and he is clearly loathe to do that.
He could, of course, sell one of his other football clubs, one of his leisure businesses, or find the funds another way. But Tan feels this is an incredibly unfair situation and he is prepared to keep fighting for what he maintains is "the good of the football club".
However, in the interim that means the transfer embargo, which understandably alarms the fans with Cardiff so close to the relegation spots. Hence Hudson's "stick together" plea. What Hudson cannot do, however, is keep seeing the side fail to win games and slide further down the table.
The truth is that despite Tan's top six aspirations, this was always going to be a season of transition for Cardiff: transition of players, transition of playing style, and a huge change in budget.
A mid-table finish would have been classed as success, with perhaps more consolidation next year too, before the Bluebirds then look to kick on with a much more fit-for-purpose squad having gelled properly.
What they simply cannot afford to do, however, is drop into League One. That was never part of the equation.
The human loss
Let's not forget amid the claims, counter claims, court cases and transfer embargo, there is a tragedy here involving a young man at the height of his football powers who was so excited about achieving his Premier League dream.
Cardiff have always been conscious of this and it was a point stressed by Dalman on Saturday when asked about the Sala shadow still hanging over the club.
"I wish I had it in my power to lift it," he started, before going on: "People should never forget the human element to this, what happened to a 28-year-old young man involved in a tragic accident that should never have happened."
Cardiff are unhappy Sala was travelling to the UK that day on a plane they certainly didn't sanction. That continues to be a key part of the argument they are making and the action they are taking.
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