Chapecoense named South American Cup winner after tragic plane crash

Julia Jones
By Julia Jones, CNN
2 minute read
Published 4:47 PM EST, Mon December 5, 2016
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Funerals held for Brazilian soccer team
02:20 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

The club that suffered the biggest tragedy in modern soccer has seen an outpouring of solidarity.

On Monday, Chapecoense was named champion of the South American Cup, the South American Football Confederation announced. The team lost most of its players in the LaMia Flight 2933 crash on their way to play the final match against Medellin’s Atletico Nacional. More than 70 people died.

The move comes after a letter from rival team Atletico Nacional on Wednesday, November 30, to the confederation requesting it to give the South American cup title to Chapecoense “as a laurel honoring their great loss and as a posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal accident that our sport is still mourning.”

At least four major Brazilian clubs have offered to lend players to Chapecoense free of charge for the entire 2017 season: Palmeiras, Corinthians, Santos and Sao Paulo. In a joint statement, the clubs also requested the Brazilian Football Confederation give Chapecoense immunity of sorts and keep the club in the first division for the next three seasons.

“This gesture of solidarity is the least we can do at the moment,” the statement reads.

The grief is just too much for some as fans of the Chapecoense team pay tribute to the 71 victims who died in the Colombian plane crash.
The grief is just too much for some as fans of the Chapecoense team pay tribute to the 71 victims who died in the Colombian plane crash.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images South America
The emotions are only too raw for a club and its fans in mourning.
The emotions are only too raw for a club and its fans in mourning.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images South America
Fans gathered in their thousands despite the poor weather conditions to pay their tributes at the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco.
Fans gathered in their thousands despite the poor weather conditions to pay their tributes at the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images South America
Barcelona and Real Madrid players unite to observe a minute of silence to remember the victims of the Chapecoense football team before El Clasico.
Barcelona and Real Madrid players unite to observe a minute of silence to remember the victims of the Chapecoense football team before El Clasico.
JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images
The official mascot of the Chapecoense team was among the mourners.
The official mascot of the Chapecoense team was among the mourners.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images South America
FIFA president Gianni Infantino attends the funeral of the members of the Chapecoense team killed in a plane crash in Colombia.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino attends the funeral of the members of the Chapecoense team killed in a plane crash in Colombia.
DOUGLAS MAGNO/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A solitary fan pays his lone tribute against the backdrop of the club's green and white colors.
A solitary fan pays his lone tribute against the backdrop of the club's green and white colors.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images South America/
Fans pay homage to their heroes

Another benevolent gesture came from an insurance company, which volunteered to take on all expenses related to the embalming and transportation of the victims to the Medellin airport.

Fans, family and friends of the fallen soccer heroes gathered at the team’s home stadium in Chapeco on Saturday to pay their respects, and on Sunday many funeral proceedings took place across Brazil.