Associação Chapecoense de Futebol
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| Full name | Associação Chapecoense de Futebol | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) |
Verdão (Big Green) Furacão do Oeste (West's Hurricane) Chape (Chape) Chape terror (Chape Terror) | |||
| Founded | May 10, 1973 | |||
| Stadium | Arena Condá, Chapecó, Santa Catarina | |||
| Capacity | 22,600 | |||
| President | Ivan Tozzo (interim) | |||
| League |
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Campeonato Catarinense | |||
| 2015 |
Série A, 14th Catarinense, 1st | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense and whose acronym is ACF, is a Brazilian football club, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina.
Besides football the club also has activities in futsal, in which it has been state champion twice. The club was founded in 1973 with the goal of restoring football in the city of Chapecó, and won their first state title in 1977. In all, the club has won five state championships to date, the last in 2016. A relatively small club, they entered Brazil's top division, Série A, for the first time in 2014. The club's home matches are played at Arena Condá.
On November 28, 2016, a charter flight carrying the first team crashed as it approached José María Córdova International Airport near Medellín, Colombia, where the team was traveling to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional, a match that was seen as the biggest in the history of the club.[1] All but six of the 77 passengers died; only three Chapecoense players survived their injuries. Following the crash, Atlético Nacional made a request to the governing body of the competition that Chapecoense be awarded the trophy.[2]
History
The club was founded as Associação Chapecoense de Futebol on May 10, 1973, after the merger of Atlético Chapecoense and Independente.[3]
In 1977, Chapecoense won its first title, which was the Santa Catarina State Championship, beating Avaí 1–0 in the final.[4]
In 1978, the club competed for the first time in the Brazilian Championship First Level, finishing in the 51st position,[5] and in following year, finished in the 93rd position.[6]
In 2002, due to a partnership, Chapecoense was renamed to Associação Chapecoense Kindermann/Mastervet.[3] In 2006, the club was renamed back to its original name, Associação Chapecoense de Futebol,[7] and also won the Copa Santa Catarina.[8]
In 2007, the club won for the third time the state championship,[9] and also competed in the Brazilian Championship Third Level, but was eliminated in the first stage of the competition.[10] They won the Campeonato Catarinense again in 2011 and 2016.
Chapecoense competed in the Série A for the first time since 1979 in 2014, as the club was promoted after they and Bragantino drew 1–1, in Chapecó, for the 2013 Série B.[11][12] Winning important points during its first season in the top flight, Chape cemented a place in the 2015 Série A, its second season in a row in the first division.[13]
In 2016, Chapecoense made history when they reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana 2016 after defeating San Lorenzo de Almagro using the away goals rule.
2016 plane crash
On the evening of November 28, 2016, LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 carrying 77 people including the staff and players from the club crashed as it approached Medellín, Colombia due to an electrical failure and possibly lack of fuel. Investigations are still underway. 71 people died (including 21 journalists and almost the entire first team and managerial staff) and 6 survived, according to BBC.[14] The surviving players were left back Alan Ruschel,[15] backup goalkeeper Follmann[16] (who had one of his legs amputated due to his injuries),[17] and center-back Neto. Goalkeeper Danilo initially survived the crash, but later died before arriving to the hospital.[18]
Due to the crash, the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals in which the team were due to play was suspended indefinitely. Their opponents, Atletico Nacional of Colombia, offered to concede the tie to allow Chapecoense to be awarded the championship.[2] On 4 December 2016, Chapecoense's interim president announced that CONMEBOL would be granting the club the tournament title and prize money.[19]
Brazilian clubs decided to loan out players to them for free and sent a request to the Brazilian FA stating that the club should be immune from relegation for three years.[1] Chapecoense goalkeeper Nivaldo soon after announced his immediate retirement from football.[20]
There was a lot of anger among the fans of Chapecoense after it was confirmed that LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 ran out of fuel after leaked footage confirmed that the pilot requested to land due to fuel problems but was instructed to wait 7 minutes as another aircraft was having mechanical problems.[21] The country of Bolivia has suspended the airline company, LaMia Airlines flying license due to recent information surfacing that the pilot skipped a crucial refuelling stop that could have prevented the tragedy that occurred on flight 2933.
Chapecoense have been asked to fulfill their next league fixture in tribute to the players and staff who died in a plane crash. Chapecoense President Ivan Tozzo revealed that the Brazilian FA have asked for the club to play their final league game of the 2016 campaign in part by drawing on their Under-20's side to fill out the roster.[22]
Deceased Chapecoense players
- Ailton Cesar Junior Alves da Silva (Canela), 22[23]
- Dener Assunção Braz (Dener), 25[23]
- Marcelo Augusto Mathias da Silva (Marcelo), 25[23]
- Matheus Bitencourt da Silva (Matheus Biteco), 21[23]
- Mateus Lucena dos Santos (Caramelo), 22[23]
- Guilherme Gimenez de Souza (Gimenez), 21[23]
- Lucas Gomes da Silva (Lucas Gomes), 26[23]
- Everton Kempes dos Santos Gonçalves (Kempes), 34[23]
- Arthur Brasiliano Maia (Arthur Maia), 24[23]
- Ananias Eloi Castro Monteiro (Ananias), 27[23]
- Marcos Danilo Padilha (Danilo), 31[23]
- Filipe José Machado (Filipe Machado), 32[23]
- Sérgio Manoel Barbosa Santos (Sérgio Manoel), 27[23]
- José Gildeixon Clemente de Paiva (Gil), 29[23]
- Bruno Rangel Domingues (Bruno Rangel), 34[23]
- Cléber Santana Loureiro (Cléber Santana), 35[24]
- Josimar Rosado da Silva Tavares (Josimar), 30[23]
- Willian Thiego de Jesus (Thiego), 30[23]
- Tiago da Rocha Vieira Alves (Tiaguinho), 22[23]
Deceased Chapecoense staff
- Luiz Carlos Saroli (Caio Júnior), coach, 51[24][25]
Achievements
- 2016
- 1977, 1996, 2007, 2011, 2016
- 2006
- Taça Santa Catarina: 1
- 1979, 2014
- Taça Plinio Arlindo de Nez: 1
- 1995
- Campeonato Seletivo: 1
- 2002
- Copa da Paz: 1
- 2005
Current squad
- As of November 29, 2016[26]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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