Chapecoense set to return to playing in January

Chapecoense are set to play their first official match since the tragic plane disaster which devastated the club late last month.

CONMEBOL announced on Tuesday that the Brazilian side are scheduled to play Internacional de Lages in the Campeonato Catarinense on January 29.

Chapecoense players, backroom staff and officials were among the 71 people to lose their lives when a flight carrying them to the Copa Sudamericana final first leg against Atletico Nacional went down in Cerro Gordo, La Union in Colombia.

The Chapeco-based club have since been named winners of that competition by South American football’s governing body as the world rallies around the grief-stricken team.

Chapecoense have also begun the rebuilding process, appointing Vagner Mancini as head coach after Caio Junior was among those killed en route to Medellin.

Awaiting Mancini is a friendly with Spanish champions Barcelona, who have invited Chapecoense to compete in next year’s Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou.