Spanish football giants FC Barcelona will host Chapecoense in a friendly on Aug. 7 to pay tribute to those who died when the Brazilian club’s plane crashed last November.
Only three of the club’s players survived the crash on Nov. 29 in the Medellin region of Colombia when 71 of 77 people on board died.
FC Barcelona, in a statement, said the game would help Chapecoense “rebuild institutionally and recover the competitive level it had before the tragedy’’.
The winner of the game at the Nou Camp will receive the Joan Gamper Trophy.
The annual invitational game is traditionally where FC Barcelona unveil their team for the new season to home fans.
The crash happened as Chapecoense were travelling to face Colombian side Atletico Nacional in the final match of the Copa Sudamericana.
Defenders Neto and Alan Ruschel, and goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, who had his leg amputated, were among the six survivors, while 19 players and the coaching staff died.
They signed 25 new players this season and promoted nine from the youth team.(NAN)