Barcelona invite Chapecoense for friendly

Fans of Brazil's Gremio hold signs paying tribute to the victims of Chapecoense before the start of the 2016 Brazil's Cup final football match against Atletico Mineiro outside the Arena do Gremio stadium in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Barcelona have invited Chapecoense to play in a friendly at the Nou Camp next August as a tribute to the victims of the air crash that all, but wiped out the Brazilian team last month, the Spanish champions announced yesterday.

“FC Barcelona want to pay homage to the 71 people that died in the accident and to their families, so it is working on making the 2017 edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy a homage on behalf of the world of football to all of them,” read a club statement.

“With this invitation to Chapecoense, Barcelona want to collaborate with the institutional and sporting restructuring of the club to help it recover the competitive level it had.”