The Goan Network
PANAJ
Churchill Bros Sports Club have condoled the death of the players, officials of Chapecoense, a Brazilian soccer team and sports journalists in a plane crash in Medellin, Colombia.
Churchill Alemao, president of Churchill Bros stated that not only Brazil but the entire football world were in mourning after a chartered plane carrying the first-division Brazilian soccer team to a historic game slammed into a Colombian hillside, killing 71of
the 81 people aboard.
"It is tragic that 71 people which included promising players of Chapecoense, officials and journalists and crew members died with only six- three players, a journalist and two crew members - surviving the crash. The team was scheduled to play in Copa Sudamerica
finals on Wednesday.
And 20 of the dead were sports journalists with only one sports scribe from AP surviving. The crash has devastated football fans as the team was on its
way to face one of its biggest tests yet: a chance to win the final of the Copa Sudamericana, an international competition for South American soccer," Churchill added.
Valanka Alemao, CEO of Churchill Bros said that the crash had left the football world stunned more so as something like this had not been seen for the past four decades. The shock is all the more intense as Chapecoense had risen from obscurity from Brazil’s fourth division, making few ripples in the soccer world and a spectacular rise had placed the team near the pinnacle of Brazilian soccer.
"They were the pride of Chapecó, a staid city of 210,000 known for its food processing plants. Fans attributed Chapecoense’s ascent to
prudent, transparent management, including cooperation with local business leaders who helped pull the team out of a financial crisis over the past decade," pointed out Valanka.
"While we pay homage to the victims of the tragedy and pray that God give their families the strength to bear the unexpected loss, the football world must salute Atlético Nacional, the Colombian team that was to play Chapecoense of Brazil in the finals of the Copa Sudamericana soccer tournament for asking the South American confederation, Conmebol, to cancel the two-leg finals and declare Chapecoense the champion of the tournament, South America’s second-most prestigious club competition," Valanka said.
