A remarkable display of hope and empathy from Sport Cover, the agency representing Emiliano Sala, has seen the company raise sufficient funds to continue the search for the Argentinian footballer, whose aircraft disappeared from radar last Monday evening near the Channel Islands. An official search-and-rescue operation for the light aircraft was called off on Thursday due to the low chance of survival.

The crowdfunding campaign "#NoDejenDeBuscar” (Do not stop searching) was launched last Friday. It has raised more than €300,000 and been supported by more than 4,500 individuals, institutions and footballers such as Kylian Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot and Ilkay Gündogan, according to fundraising platform GoFoundMe.

These donations have allowed the families to engage the services of a specialist company led by expert oceanographer David Mearns. Mearns specializes in deep-sea searches and claims to have located 24 major shipwrecks during his career.

Three lifeboats have been commissioned to search for traces of the aircraft near the island of Guernsey in the English Channel while another team will search in the waters of the Hurd Deep valley.

Mearns, speaking on behalf of Sala's family, told Fox Sports Argentina that "they will be looking at more investigative, technical searches underwater” and will give more details of the search process throughout the week.

Sala's family are already in the Guernsey Islands to oversee the private search efforts and are still treating it as a missing person's case for the time being.

km/mp (sid, walesonline.co.uk)