Chapecoense and Atlético Nacional to play tribute friendly 10 years after air disaster | OneFootball

Chapecoense and Atlético Nacional will play a friendly on 26 September in Colombia to honour the victims, 10 years after the air crash that devastated the Brazilian club.

According to L'Équipe, the match will be staged at Medellin's Atanasio Girardot Stadium, where Atlético Nacional play.

On 28 November 2016, 71 people, including almost the entire Chapecoense squad, died when their plane ran out of fuel and crashed on a hillside about 20 kilometres from Medellin's José Maria Cordova airport.

Chapecoense said on X that the two shirts share a story that transcends football. Both clubs wear green and have forged a special bond since the tragedy. At Atlético Nacional's request, Chapecoense were declared 2016 Copa Sudamericana winners.

Chapecoense returned to Brazil's Serie A this year after relegation to Serie B in 2021, the club having been decimated by the sporting and administrative consequences of the tragedy.

Of the six survivors, three were players. Full-back Alan Ruschel, now 37, plays for Juventude in Serie B. Defender Neto retired in 2019 without playing again, and former goalkeeper Jakson Follmann had a leg amputated and later became a preacher and singer.

Source: L'Équipe

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