Chapecoense awarded Copa Sudamericana title following plane disaster

Champions: Chapecoense
AFP/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj5 December 2016

Brazilian top-flight club Chapecoense, who lost most of its players in the tragic plane crash in Colombia last week, have been awarded the Copa Sudamericana title, it was today announced.

The governing body of South American football, CONMEBOL, confirmed the news on Monday after 19 of Chapecoense's players were killed in the crash just outside Medellin, Colombia last week which claimed the lives of 71 people in total. Six people survived.

The crash occurred as the team were travelling to play the first of two matches against Colombian side Atletico Nacional, which was set to determine the champion of the Copa Sudamericana — Latin America's equivalent of the Europa League.

CONMEBOL also confirmed that Atletico Nacional will be given an award for fair play after requesting that the title go to Chapecoense.

A statement on Monday read: "CONMEBOL awards the title for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana championship to Chapecoense."

Atletico Nacional had released a statement last week in which the club confirmed their desire to see Chapecoense be awarded the Copa Sudamericana title.

"Atletico Nacional have invited Conmebol to deliver the Copa Sudamericana title to the Chapecoense Football Association as an honour for their great loss and in posthumous homage to the victims of the tragic accident that has our sport in mourning," it read.

"For us, and forever, Chapecoense shall be the Copa Sudamericana champions for 2016."

As the winner of this year's tournament, Chapecoense will automatically qualify for next season's Copa Libertadores, the continent's top tournament.

This also means that Chapecoense will face Atletico Nacional — the defending Copa Libertadores champions — in an emotion-charged two-game series next year between the continent's two club champions.

Chapecoesne are likely to field a team of borrowed players from other clubs.

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