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The Americas

Crash-struck club Chapecoense given Copa Sudamericana title

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Trucks carry coffins with the remains of Chapecoense soccer team members who died in a plane crash, are taken to the team's stadium for a memorial in Chapeco, Brazil, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. The accident Monday in the Colombian Andes claimed most of the team's players and staff as it headed to the finals of one of Latin America's most important club tournaments. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) (The Associated Press)

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    2016 AP YEAR END PHOTOS - Rescue workers carry the bodies of victims of an airplane crash in a mountainous area near La Union, Colombia, on Nov. 29, 2016. The plane was carrying the Brazilian first division soccer club Chapecoense team, which was on its way for a Copa Sudamericana final match against Colombia's Atletico Nacional. (AP Photo/Luis Benavides, File) (The Associated Press)

ASUNCION, Paraguay – The Brazilian club Chapecoense, which lost most of its players in an air crash last week, has been awarded the Copa Sudamericana championship by the governing body of South American soccer.

In a statement Monday, CONMEBOL said it awarded the title "as a posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal crash that leaves our sport in mourning."

Nineteen of Chapecoense's players were killed in the crash just outside Medellin, Colombia, as the team headed to the first of two matches against Colombian club Atletico Nacional to determine the champion of the Copa Sudamericana — Latin America's No. 2 club tournament.

As the winner, Chapecoense qualifies automatically for next season's Copa Libertadores, the continent's top tournament.

This also means that Chapecoense will face Atletico Nacional — the defending Copa Libertadores champion — in an emotion-charged two-game series next year between the continent's two club champions.

CONMEBOL also awarded Atletico Nacional its Fair Play award. CONMEBOL said it was asked to award Chapecoense the title by the directors of Atletico Nacional.

Chapecoesne is likely to field a team next season of borrowed players from other clubs.