Football – usually loved and revered worldwide for being the beautiful game – has these sad and tragic days. Days when words become superfluous and all hatchets are buried as not only the footballers but the whole world unites and mourns a tragedy. In 1958, it was the Munich air disaster which left the earth bereft of the universally loved – Busby Babes. In 1989, it was Hillsborough when 96 good souls departed. And today it is the Chapecoense air disaster!
A LAMIA Bolivia British Aerospace Avro flight (Reg. No. CP-2933) carrying 81 people including Brazilian Serie A team Chapecoense crashed while it was approaching Medellin – a city in Colombia – where it was expected to land. Until now reports are suggesting that only 6 of the 81 people have managed to survive the crash – one of the survivors succumbed to his injuries at the airport. Apart from the Chapecoense team, the aircraft was also carrying journalists, clubs staff, guests and 9 crew members. Three of the 5 survivors are from the football team.
The Chapecoense team was travelling to Medellin to play in the final of Copa Sudamericana against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday – which has now been suspended. The final was supposed to be a red-letter day in the brief but inspiring history of the Serie A team but as fate would have it – it is now their most tragic one.
Tragedies such as this, not only leaves the footballing world in a total state of shock but it also forces the entire human race to reevaluate and ponder their existence, for there might not be a tomorrow – as Chapecoense football team found out in the cruellest of ways.
Footballers, football clubs and important figures from around the globed expressed their grief following the tragic incident:
Three players of Chapecoense who didn’t travel with the rest of the squad.
David De Gea lost a friend and former teammate in Cleber Santana
