Brazilian Football club Chapecoense have been in the headlines all over the world in recent days. On their way to Colombia to take on Atletico Nacional in the Copa Suderamericana final, their plane crashed into mountains not too far away from Medellin. Fatally killing seventy one people including nineteen players and staff. Only six of the seventy seven people that were on board the plane survived the crash. It was 10:15pm 28th November when the plane crashed and the whole world has mourned the news since and will continue to do so, with the football community rallying together.
Almost every match played over the weekend especially in the Premier League held a minute silence for those lost. With more tributes to be given in this week's Champions League and Europa League fixtures.
Fitting tribute
Atletico Nacional were due to play Chapecoense in the first leg of the final and the Colombian club requested for the club to be awarded to their Brazilian opponents. Nacional have since been awarded a Fair Play award for their "spirit of peace, understanding and fair play" and will be given £787,000 reward money for participation in the cup. With Chapecoense receiving £1.57m in prize money for subsequently winning the competition. It is moments like this that emphasise that football is more than a sport and that during times of sorrow, the community will rally together to console and help those who were left behind as Chapecoense try to rebuild their team.
Only three players survived the crash Alan Ruschel, Helio Neto and Jackson Follman. Several Brazilian clubs have offered the club players for free so they can continue to compete, similar to when Bill Shankley offered Manchester United some of his Liverpool players following the Munich disaster. A haunting example that this is not the first time that football has seen a disaster of this magnitude.
What happened
Investigations have begun to look into why exactly the BAE146 Bolivia charter flight crashed with the pilot's last words before losing contact "complete electrical failure, without fuel". It was obvious from all on board the flight that something was wrong, the actual cause of the failure is yet to be determined but it is becoming increasingly clear that the plane ran out of fuel. Investigations into the disaster will take place over the next couple of weeks and hopefully more light will be shed into how the disaster was caused and perhaps how it should have been prevented.
