No, The Soccer Team That Lost 19 In A Plane Crash Won't Be Fined For Not Playing The Finale

Reports are circulating that Chapecoense are being fined nearly $30,000 for failing to field a team in the finals after losing 19 players in the deadly plane crash last month.

By
Tanya Chen
by Tanya Chen

BuzzFeed News Reporter

and
Alexandre Aragão
by Alexandre Aragão

Repórter do BuzzFeed News, Brasil

Stories published in English on Monday by multiple publications claimed Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense were forced to pay $29,847 in penalties for failing to show up to their championship game — after the team lost 19 players in a plane crash that was supposed to take players to a match against Atlético Nacional de Medellín.

The the Daily News , Mirror UK and Sports Illustrated all ran with the story.

nydailynews.com

The outlets cite ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-American channel owned by ESPN, which reported in Spanish that both teams in the scheduled match — Chapecoense and Atlético Mineiro — are being fined 100,000 Reais for not fulfilling their commitment to play the final round of the National league on Sunday.

Hours after the initial story ran, ESPN Deportes told BuzzFeed News it updated the story "according to the latest reports."

But after the crash, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) stated that they would not fine either teams for not playing. They did, however, postpone the match to December 11 — and on Sunday, the CBF sent referees and game officials to the game as a formality.

Also per formalities, after 30 minutes, the game was declared WO (a "walkover") and the game was officially cancelled.

That's when ESPN Deportes falsely reported that the 100,000 Reais fines were due, despite CBF executives previously stating they will not enforce the fine.

The official CBF account announced the finale of the Brasileirão league, with no mention of a penalty for Chapecoense nor Atlético.

CBF Futebol @CBF_Futebol

Termina o #Brasileirão 2016. Confira o resumo da 38ª e última rodada do campeonato mais equilibrado do mundo >>… https://t.co/6AKIJ7bzmx

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This reads: "2016 Brazilian Championship comes to an end. Check the results for the final round of the most balanced football championship in the world."

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