Chapecoense officially awarded the Copa Sudamericana

A week after 19 players, constituting almost the entire senior team, and all of the coaching staff of the Brazilian Chapecoense soccer club died in a plane crash in Colombia, killing 71 in total, there has been an outpouring of support from the soccer world, deep mourning, and several vigils as the bodies were returned to Chapeco, a smallish industrial city.

On Monday, Chapecoense was officially named the winner of the Copa Sudamericana.

The club’s chartered plane went down on its way to Medellin, Colombia, to play the first leg of the final of South America’s secondary continental tournament — apparently because of a shortage of fuel. There, Chape would attempt to complete its remarkably swift rise from Brazil’s fourth division to the final of one of South America’s premier competitions. It was to face Atletico Nacional in that final.

Immediately following news of the crash, Atletico asked CONMEBOL, the South American regional governing body, to award the title to their opponents. The Colombians had never won the tournament either, although they’d also reached the final in 2002 and 2014.

“Atletico Nacional have invited CONMEBOL to deliver the Copa Sudamericana title to the Chapecoense Football Association as an honor for their great loss and in posthumous homage to the victims of the tragic accident that has our sport in mourning,” Atletico declared in a statement. “For us, and forever, Chapecoense shall be the Copa Sudamericana champions for 2016.”

Chape’s would-be opponents weren’t the only ones offering sporting support. Many of the other clubs in Brazil’s highest tier lobbied the league to protect Chapecoense from relegation for three years and to waive any fees for loaning players from their rivals, which those teams were happy to make available as the club rebuilt itself.

CONMEBOL formally awarded the trophy to Chape in an announcement on its website.

“The South American Confederation of Football confirms that the Council of CONMEBOL, as the permanent authority responsible for enforcing the Institution’s Statutes, has decided to declare the Chapecoense Football Association the 2016 edition of the Copa Sudamericana … in honor of this great loss as a posthumous tribute to the victims of the fatal accident that our sport mourns,” it read, “as well as awarding the Atletico Nacional the extraordinary recognition of the ‘Centennial CONMEBOL Fair Play’ award.”

Atletico Nacional had officially petitioned the governing body to essentially forfeit the final to their opponents. “For CONMEBOL, there is no greater example of the spirit of peace, understanding and fair play set forth as an objective of our Institution than the solidarity, consideration and respect exhibited by Atletico Nacional,” the confederation said in its statement.

As winners of the Copa Sudamericana, Chapecoense have qualified for next season’s Copa Libertadores, the premier club tournament in South America — a first for the club.

Congratulations, Chape.