About

Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense and whose acronym is ACF, is a Brazilian football club, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina. The club was founded in 1973 with the goal of restoring football in the city, and won the state championship, the Campeonato Catarinense, for the first time in 1977. The club has won six state titles to date, most recently in 2017. A relatively small club, it entered Brazil's top division, Série A, for the first time in 1978, returning to the top flight only in 2014. The club also has activities in futsal, in which it has been state champion twice. The club's home matches are played at Arena Condá. On 28 November 2016, a charter flight carrying the first team crashed as it approached José María Córdova International Airport near Medellín, Colombia, where the team was travelling to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional, a match that was seen as the biggest in the history of the club. All but six of the 77 passengers died; only three Chapecoense players survived their injuries. Following the crash, Atlético Nacional made a request to the governing body of the competition, CONMEBOL, that Chapecoense be awarded the trophy. CONMEBOL awarded Chapecoense the trophy on 5 December, and Atlético Nacional received the Centennial Fair Play Award for their gesture.