- Title: Chapecoense awarded Copa Sudamericana title after plane crash
- Date: 5th December 2016
- Summary: MEDELLIN, ANTIOQUIA, COLOMBIA (DECEMBER 01, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOCCER FANS IN STADIUM FOR MEMORIAL SERVICE GENERAL VIEW OF SERVICE
- Embargoed: 20th December 2016 21:51
- Keywords: Copa Sudamericana Colombia Brazil trophy soccer Chapecoense Atletico Nacional
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA / RIONEGRO, ANTIOQUIA, GUARNE, MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA / RIONEGRO, ANTIOQUIA, GUARNE, MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Reuters ID: LVA0045BM0APZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South American soccer's governing body CONMEBOL awarded the 2016 Copa Sudamericana championship to Brazil's Chapecoense club on Monday (December 05) after most of the team died in a plane crash in Colombia last week.
Only six people survived the crash en route to the final, which killed 71 passengers and crew, shocked football fans worldwide, and plunged Brazil into mourning.
Colombia's Club Atletico Nacional, which would have played Chapecoense in the biggest game in the club's history, asked for the trophy to be awarded to the Brazilian team to honour the victims.
"I think that it was the least that could be done for these men who died, who gave their lives to their profession and it was the wish of Atletico Nacional. These men undertook a great tournament and they came to dispute (the final) with us and I think it is the best thing for global soccer," said Reinaldo Rueda from Atletico Nacional.
As Sudamericana champions, Chapecoense will automatically play Libertadores champions Atletico Nacional for the Recopa Sudamericana next year.
They will also get a guaranteed spot in next year's Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent of the Champions League.
A BAe146 regional airliner operated by Bolivian charter company LAMIA which had been flying the Brazilian club had radioed that it was running out of fuel before smashing into a hillside outside Medellin, Colombia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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