London (CNN) The family of missing Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala have pleaded with rescuers to continue their search for the plane in which he was traveling.

Police on Wednesday suspended the operation to find the aircraft, which disappeared over the English Channel on Monday, saying that a decision on whether to resume the search would be made in the morning. The single-engine Piper Malibu was taking Sala from Nantes in northern France to Cardiff in Wales, the home of his new club, Cardiff City.

"After an intensive search using multiple aircraft and one lifeboat over the last nine hours, we have found no trace of the missing plane," Guernsey Police tweeted. "A decision about whether to recommence will be taken early tomorrow morning," the statement added.

At a press conference in Argentina, family spokesperson Martin Molteni told reporters that it is "essential the search continues" and that the family wanted rescuers to "use all means possible" to find out what happened.

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