Ivan Tozzo, the acting president of the club, told fans the club would continue on, and reminded the... Chapeco: Chapecoense, the team who lost 19 of their playing squad in the Colombia plane crash, will be posthumously crowned Copa Sudamericana champions. Atletico Nacional, who were due to play Chapecoense in the first leg of their final the day after the plane crash, had asked the South American Football Federation (Conmebol) if the Brazilian club could be made honorary champions.
Seventy-one people died when a chartered plane carrying members of the Brazilian team crashed into the Medellin mountains after running out of fuel. The interim Conmebol president has confirmed the grief- stricken club will be named Copa Sudamerican champions.
"Conmebol have testified that they will crown Chapecoense as champions of the Copa Sudamericana," said interim president, Ivan Tozzo. "We are receiving support from all federations. The CBF, Conmebol, Fifa, and especially the people of Chapecó. Right now we are beginning to rebuild the team. People want football, people love football in Chapecó.
"Therefore, we must continue this. Let's talk and do well, let the dust settle and rebuild the team for next year. "Atletico Nacional have invited Conmebol to deliver the Copa Sudamericana title to the Chapecoense Football Association as an honour for their great loss and in posthumous homage to the victims of the tragic accident that has our sport in mourning," a statement said. "For us, and forever, Chapecoense shall be the Copa Sudamericana champions for 2016." The move comes as the footballing community continues to mourn the tragic loss of life.
According to reports, all Brazilian clubs have agreed to loan Chapecoense players to help the team survive in future seasons, while former South American stars Ronaldinho and Juan Riquelme have offered to come out of retirement to offer their services. Over 100,000 mourners gathered at the club's stadium on Saturday to pay their respects to the 19 players who lost their lives in the crash.
A mass was held in the centre of the pitch as fans sang club anthems and wept while holding candles in the stands. Clubs across Europe paid their own tributes to the players who were killed in the disaster, with minute silences being observed throughout the Premier League. Brazilian internationals David Luiz and Willian held black armbands containing the team's name aloft after Chelsea scored their second goal in Saturday's victory over Manchester City.
Meanwhile, the rainy Saturday in Chapeco only accentuated the grief and 20,000 people filled a tiny stadium under umbrellas and plastic ponchos to say goodbye to dead players and support staff of the Chapecoense football club.
Rain-soaked mourners jammed the modest stadium with four or five times that many outside to pay homage to a modest club. In total, about half the population of the southern Brazilian city of 210,000 gathered. Thousands also lined the roads as the coffins were driven in a procession from the airport to the stadium memorial.
"I've been here since early morning," said 19-year-old Chaiane Lorenzetti, who said she worked at a local supermarket frequented by club players and officials. "I'll never see some of my clients again. It's a devastating day that will last forever."
Soldiers wearing berets carried the coffins into the stadium on their shoulders, sloshing through standing water and mud on a field filled with funeral wreaths, club and national flags, and other tributes.
A tent, with the coffins placed underneath, stretched across the width of the football field. On top of the white tent, a sentence from the club's anthem was written for all to read.
It read: "In happiness and in the most difficult hours, you are always a winner." Family members and friends wept under the tents. Many hunched over the coffins with photos of the deceased placed on top or alongside as it rained non stop. Brazilian president Michel Temer, who had not planned to visit the stadium for fear of being jeered, showed up after receiving the bodies at the airport. He was treated respectfully and was joined by Gianni Infantino, the head of Fifa.
"This is a time for pain and suffering, not for talking," Infantino said. "No words can diminish the suffering." The loudest applause was probably for Brazil's national team coach Tite. He has led Brazil to six straight victories since taking over, quickly becoming a national hero.

Better. RIP to the heroes.

they remains a legend

eeeya!

Long Live Chapecoense FC