Opposing team calls for Brazilian Chapecoense team to be declared Copa Sudamericana champions after plane crash
Atletico Nacional, the Colombian team that would have played against Brazilian team, Chapecoense on Wednesday in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana final, have requested that the title be awarded to the club following a plane crash that killed almost all team members late Monday night.
The Chapecoense team were travelling to play Atletico Nacional in Medellin, Colombia, in the first leg of their maiden Copa Sudamericana final before an electrical failure caused their plane to crash, killing 76 out of the 81 passengers on board.
The club have only been a part of Brazil’s top flight for the past three seasons, and were aiming for the greatest achievement in their 43-year history.
The unfortunate development has prompted the opposing team to give up the title, citing a need for “posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal accident that impute our sport.”
READ: Confirmed: 19 Brazilian football players dead, 3 survive in plane crash
“Pain overwhelms our hearts and invades our thinking in mourning. It has been unfortunate hours in which we have been dismayed by news that we never wanted to hear,” the club said in an official statement.
“The accident of our football brothers, Chapecoense, will mark us for life and will leave an indelible mark on Latin-American and world football. All this has been completely unexpected, that’s why the pain. They were all footballers, technical staff, journalists and crew, people with many dreams, that’s why the tears.
“After being very worried about the human part we thought about the competitive aspect and we want to publish this statement in which Atletico Nacional ask Conmebol to give the title of Copa Sudamericana be given to the Chapecoense as an honorary award for this great loss, and in posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal accident that impute our sport. For our part, and forever, Chapecoense are champions of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana.”
Since the incident, thousands of concerned organisations and individuals have expressed their willingness in lending assistance to the football club to get it back in shape.
The President of Brazil has since declared three days of national mourning following the crash.
Other football clubs, such as Flamengo, Palmeiras, Benfica have offered to support the club by loaning them players on an emergency basis.
The request by Atletico Nacional is yet to be confirmed by CONMEBOL, but a journalist from Brazil’s Radio Grenal FM, Mr Suram said it’s only a “matter of days” before Chapecoense will be declared champions.
