Chapecoense have been crowned winners of the Copa Sudamericana a week after the Brazilian club’s plane crashed en route to the final.
The jet carrying the Chapecoense team to Medellín for the final against the Colombian side Atlético Nacional came down on Monday last week, killing 71 people including 19 players and several officials and journalists.
The decision to award the Copa Sudamericana title came after Nacional asked Conmebol to award the title to Chapecoense in tribute to the victims of the crash.
The governing body also announced it has awarded Nacional the Centennial Conmebol Fair Play award of $1m (£785,000).
It said in a statement: “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 shown by Atlético National towards its brothers from Chapecoense.”
Brazil’s leading clubs have also offered to loan players to Chapecoense for free and asked that they be spared relegation for the next three seasons.
The former Brazil forward Ronaldinho and ex-Argentina international Juan Roman Riquelme have reportedly offered to play for the club while former Iceland international, Eidur Gudjohnsen, has also offered his services.
“Out of respect I would play for ChapecoenseReal if they have a place for me! If not just to play with 10Ronaldinho again ForcaChape,” the 38-year-old Gudjohnsen, whose last club was FC Pune City, posted on Twitter.
Chapecoense’s acting president, Ivan Tozzo, has said the club – which came up through the lower divisions after being founded in 1973 – will rebuild from the bottom up.
Just three of the team – defender Alan Luciano Ruschel, reserve goalkeeper Jackson Ragnar Follmann and centre-back Helio Hermito Zampier Neto – were named among only six survivors of the crash.
