Football
Associated Press 6y

Chapecoense want Nacional expelled from Copa Lib for fan behaviour

ASUNCION, Paraguay -- Brazilian football club Chapecoense have asked South America's football governing body to expel Uruguayan club Nacional from the Copa Libertadores after some of their fans mocked the plane crash that killed most of the Chapecoense squad two years ago.

Chapecoense said Friday they asked CONMEBOL to postpone the teams' second-leg match on Wednesday if it can't make a ruling on their request by then. The request is based on tournament rules set by CONMEBOL that make clubs responsible for the misbehavior of their fans.

CONMEBOL announced earlier that it had opened a disciplinary procedure against Nacional due to "offensive behaviors that are an attack on human dignity."

Nacional apologised to the Brazilian team and later said that it had identified two fans and banned them as club members. Authorities were also alerted, so that the two men are not allowed again at sporting events, Nacional said.

A video broadcast by Brazil's Globoesporte website shows two Nacional fans laughing and making gestures with their arms imitating a plane crash. They were filmed during Nacional's 1-0 victory at Chapecoense last Wednesday in a qualifying round in the Copa Libertadores, South America's top club competition. Wednesday's second leg is scheduled to be played in Montevideo.

The Chapecoense flight crashed in November 2016 in Colombia, killing 71 people. The modest Brazilian club were traveling to play in their first-ever international final.

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