Chapecoense wants Nacional banned after fans mock crash

Football

Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense has asked South America’s soccer governing body to expel Uruguayan club Nacional from the Copa Libertadores after some of its fans mocked the plane crash that killed most of the Chapecoense squad two years ago.

Chapecoense said it has asked CONMEBOL to postpone the teams’ match on Wednesday if it can’t make a ruling on its request by then. The request is based on tournament rules set by CONMEBOL that make clubs responsible for the misbehav- iour of their fans.

CONMEBOL announced earlier that it had opened a disciplinary procedure against Nacional due to “offensive behaviours that are an attack on human dignity.”

Nacional apologised to the Brazilian team and later said that it had identified two fans and banned them as club members. Authorities were also alerted, so that the two men are not allowed again at sporting events, Nacional said.

A video broadcast by Brazil’s Globoesporte website shows two Nacional fans laughing and making gestures with their arms imitating a plane crash. They were filmed during Nacional’s 1-0 victory at Chapecoense last Wednesday in a qualifying round in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s top club competition. Wednesday’s second leg is scheduled to be played in Montevideo.

The Chapecoense flight crashed in November 2016 in Colombia, killing 71 people.

The modest Brazilian club was travelling to play in its first ever international final.