Off the wire
• Ghana police say will not countenance security breach ahead of poll declaration  • Nordea Bank upgrades forecast for Finland's economic growth  • Tanzania loses 160 mln USD from undervaluation of imports: official  • British FTSE 100 rises 0.42 pct  • OSCE Secretary General calls for teamwork of organization  • 2nd Ld: Massive earthquake hits Solomon Islands, Tsunami possible  • UN rights chief urges Israel to reconsider bill to legalise outposts  • Arab League condemns Israeli initial approval of settlement bill  • OSCE important in current stormy times: German FM  • Spotlight: China's envoy calls for unity in UN Security Council on Syrian issue  
You are here: 　 Home

Barcelona invite Chapecoense to play in friendly

Xinhua, December 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Barcelona have invited the Brazilian football team decimated by last week's Colombia air crash to play in a friendly next August.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Spanish champions announced that Chapecoense football club had been asked to contest the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Camp Nou.

"FC Barcelona want to pay homage to the 71 people that died in the accident and to their families so it is working on making the 2017 edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy a homage on behalf of the world of football to all of them," Barcelona said on their official website.

"With this invitation to Chapecoense, Barcelona wants to collaborate with the institutional and sporting restructuring of the club to help it recover the competitive level it had," the statement added.

The Joan Gamper Trophy is played annually at the Camp Nou a week before the first match of the La Liga season.

Nineteen Chapecoense players and most of the club's staff died when the plane in which they were travelling crashed just before its planned destination near Medellín on November 28. Nearly all of the club's directors and 20 journalists were also killed.

The Brazilian first division club had been due to play Atletico Nacional de Medellin in the two-match Copa Sudamericana final on November 30 and December 7.

Chapecoense were this week awarded the title at the request of Atletico Nacional. Endit