FIFA has threatened the former Premier League club Cardiff City FC with a lengthy transfer ban if does not pay part of the transfer fee for the late Emiliano Sala.

The Argentine completed a $16.7 million transfer to Cardiff from the French side FC Nantes on January 19 but died two days later in a plane crash over the English Channel.

Cardiff then refused to pay for the deal, claiming that he was not its player because there were details in his employment contract that had not yet been completed.

FIFA rejected that claim, and on September 25 its Players’ Status Committee ordered the Welsh club to pay Nantes the first installment of the agreed transfer fee, amounting to $6.7 million, within 45 days of receiving the relevant bank details.

The fee has still not been paid, however, meaning Cardiff could now face a ban on registering new players for a minimum of three consecutive transfer windows.

The club is registering an appeal against FIFA's decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, according to The Guardian.

FIFA has not made clear whether Cardiff must eventually pay the remaining $10 million of the original transfer fee to Nantes.

Nantes' lawyers Jerome Marsaudon and Louis-Marie Absil told L'Equipe in September after FIFA's ruling that Cardiff had exploited Sala's death to avoid payment and was acting in "bad faith."

Cardiff City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.