Chapecoense
The modest Brazilian club that sparked a wave of global solidarity after the plane crash that decimated the team in 2016 will return to Brazil's top division in 2021 after a season in the B series.
Chapecoense defeated Figueirense 2-1 on Tuesday night and secured their return to Brasileirao with four rounds left in the 2020 second division championship, which was disrupted by the pandemic.
Paulinho (22) and Derlan (66) scored the goals for Chape at Arena Condá. Diego Gonçalves scored for the visitors from a penalty in the 84th minute.
With the victory, the green team reached 66 points, fourteen more than fifth-placed Juventude.
Chapecoense is second in the B series, where leader América-MG, with 67 points, has already secured promotion.
Two spots are still up for grabs to determine the four teams that will be promoted. With nine rounds remaining, seven teams are fighting to avoid relegation in the Brasileirao, including Botafogo, Vasco da Gama, Bahia, and Fortaleza.
Promotion is a relief for Chapecoense, which has faced significant blows in recent times.
COVID-19 took the life of their president, Paulo Magro, in late December and deepened their economic crisis, to the point of launching a virtual fundraiser in July to pay salaries.
But the most devastating blow was the plane crash they suffered in Colombia in November 2016, when they were supposed to play the final of the Copa Sudamericana against Atlético Nacional de Medellín.
Of the 77 people on board, 71 died, including 19 Chapecoense players and 14 members of the technical staff.
After the tragedy, Chape was declared the champion of the continental tournament.
The club managed to rebuild and stay in the Serie A of Brasileirao for two more years, but in 2019, they were relegated after finishing second to last in the top category of Brazilian football.
Since their promotion to Serie A in 2014, Chapecoense was considered an example of management and administration, although the situation changed after the crash, which also claimed the life of their president, Sandro Pallaoro, the main architect of that trajectory.
Failed signings, lower income from television rights, constant changes in coaching staff, a decrease in the number of members, and compensation payments to the families of the victims of the plane crash have depleted the club's finances. In 2019, they closed with a deficit of around 25 million reais ($6.3 million at the average exchange rate of that year). AFP