Brazil's Chapecoense Footy team in plane crash.

[ijjysmith]

Is it actually true they've been crowned champions ?

 

[BlueLlama]

Yes, just read the Brazilian news, Globo.com

A Conmebol definiu nesta segunda-feira, em reunião virtual, por teleconferência, que a Chapecoense é a campeã da edição de 2016 da Copa Sul-Americana. A decisão já estava tomada desde a última quinta-feira, como revelado pelo GloboEsporte.com, e foi oficializada em reunião virtual do Conselho da entidade – que tem representantes dos 10 países sul-americanos.

A decisão foi comunicada pela Conmebol em seu site oficial. A nota publicada pela confederação diz que a Chapecoense "receberá todas as honras e prerrogativas de campeão da Copa Sul-Americana de 2016". O texto reconhece o Atlético Nacional como vice-campeão da competição.

Além disso, o clube colombiano receberá o prêmio "Centenário da Conmebol ao Fair Play" e a quantia de US$ 1 milhão (cerca de R$ 3,4 milhões) pela atitude de ter pedido o título para a Chapecoense.

Hope that helps

 

[BlueLlama]

Conmebol defined on Monday, in a virtual meeting, by teleconference, that Chapecoense is the champion of the 2016 edition of the South American Cup. The decision has been taken since last Thursday, as revealed by GloboEsporte.com, and was made official in a virtual meeting of the council of the entity - which has representatives of the 10 South American countries.

The decision was communicated by Conmebol on its official website. The note issued by the confederation says Chapecoense "will receive all the honors and prerogatives of the 2016 South American Cup champion." The text recognizes Atletico Nacional as runner-up of the competition.

In addition, the Colombian club will receive the "Centennial of Conmebol to Fair Play" prize and the amount of US $ 1 million (about R $ 3.4 million) for the attitude of having asked for the title for Chapecoense.

http://globoesporte.globo.com/sc/fu...-garante-ao-menos-us-48-mi-em-premiacoes.html

 

[obc]

the only thing more awesome than the response to the tragedy - the Brazilian Football Confederation stating the team would be "relegation free" for a couple seasons to rebuild, offers of stars like Ronaldinho, is the club's response.

from the four letter network piece i linked,

"We are ruling out bringing established or famous players because we never had footballers who fit that profile within our institution," he told Marca. "Also, everyone knows we are of modest means and we don't have the resources to pay large fortunes like other big clubs can.

"We will probably go after young professionals in the second division or those who were not chosen by first division clubs."

Tozzo confirmed that he rejected the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF) offer to allow the club to remain in first-division no matter their standing at the end of the upcoming season.

"It's true. We want to play in all of our leagues under the same rules and terms as all the other clubs," he said. "We want, and are going to, compete just as everyone else does. We aren't going to allow anyone to give us any gifts or do us any favours. We are going to try to return to where we once were with the same resources as the rest of the clubs. We must move on and we don't want to be singled out so that is why we rejected the offer."

Tozzo reiterated that he was grateful for the outpouring of support. He said he felt all of the offers were authentic and that he didn't think that any player or club were seeking publicity.

"We are so thankful for the goodwill of players who have offered to join our institution and find ways to help Chapecoense," he said. "We are also grateful to the clubs who have offered to loan us players. But we have a certain profile, a certain way of conducting our football business within our institution and we know that no one will be taking advantage of our current circumstances.

"We are going to find players who fit within our economic means. We are talking with the agents of those players to determine which players we will look to contract."

 

[ianefc]

 

[Jacko93]

Must be so hard for him that. To wonder why it was you that survived when so many others didn't. I hope he gets to play football again.

Also, on the post above the last one, that is exactly the way that I would hope Everton were to deal with a tragedy of similar proportions. 'thank you for you offers, but we are not looking to profit from something which has effected us all so greatly, please don't treat us any differently'. Class that.

 

[The Cowboy]

the only thing more awesome than the response to the tragedy - the Brazilian Football Confederation stating the team would be "relegation free" for a couple seasons to rebuild, offers of stars like Ronaldinho, is the club's response.

from the four letter network piece i linked,

That's a great response. They are definitely best taking that approach rather than taking up offers from all and sundry.

 

[summerisle]

https://www.apnews.com/8a7844a7051c...lFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP_Sports

Chapecoense survivors lift trophy 2 months after tragedy

CHAPECO, Brazil (AP) — The three surviving players of the air crash two months ago that killed 19 members of Brazil's Chapecoense soccer club lifted the Copa Sudamericana trophy on Saturday in honor of their dead teammates.

The moving moment came just before the rebuilt side played its first match since the Nov. 28 tragedy, drawing 2-2 with defending Brazilian champion Palmeiras in a charity game.

The most emotional scene came when goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, who survived the crash but had part of his right leg amputated, lifted the trophy while seated in a wheelchair.

Defender Neto, who survived under the plane wreckage for almost 10 hours, also held the trophy in front of 20,000 fans at Chapecoense's sold-out Arena Conda stadium, as did winger Alan Ruschel.

All three were in tears during the ceremony. Family members of the victims also broke down crying as they were awarded medals.

Chapecoense was awarded the trophy following the disaster, a move backed by Colombian club Atletico Nacional, which was scheduled to face Chapecoense in the Copa Sudamericana final.

Another survivor— radio journalist Rafael Henzel — announced the friendly match in a return to the broadcast booth.

The southern Brazilian city of Chapeco, just a short drive from the Argentine border, spent weeks in anticipation of Saturday's match.

Former Chapecoense player Janca said the grief is still there, and fans aren't convinced by the new signings. But the hotdog vendor said he was still happy to see football back in the city of 200,000.

"It is just unbelievable that they managed to rebuild the entire team, and the club board in such a short time," Janca said, as he prepared his hot dogs while listening to his radio — an old present from one of the crash victims. "It will take some time until people trust the new players, but there will surely be support for that."

Doubts about the quality of the team surfaced immediately when Palmeiras scored the first goal on 11 minutes. But that didn't last long. Two minutes later new defender Douglas Grolli, who once trained at Chapecoense's academy, leveled the score.

The steady performance against the Brazilian champions in the first half, and managing a draw, gave fans hope they will be competitive this season.

The team's schedule will be demanding.

It must defend the Santa Catarina state championship, stay up in Brazil's top-flight division, and compete in the Copa Libertadores, South America's most prestigious tournament. The Brazilian team is also expected to play in several fundraisers for families of the victims, including one against Barcelona.


The stadium broke out in chants of "Vamos, Vamos Chape" (Let's go Chape) in Portuguese on 71 minutes, as a tribute to the 71 people killed in the crash in Colombia en route to the match. Only six survived.

Colombian flags and Atletico Nacional shirts were visible throughout the stadium.

"We deserve to do well this season," 17-year-old fan Diego Sandro said. "We have been through a lot and still we managed to get back on track."