Chapecoense Soccer Team Will Not Pay for Trip of Victims' Families to Meet with the Pope

08/10/2017 - 10h08

At the end of July, the managers of Chapecoense soccer team sent a message to the WhatsApp group of the families of the victims of the airplane crash that killed nearly the entire team last year.

In the message, the president of Chapecoense said the team would not pay for the trip for them to meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican - the trip is scheduled for August 30.

The relatives of the 69 members of the club killed when the LaMia aircraft fell near Medellin, Colombia, on November 29, 2016, say that the message was sent by a member of the Chapecoense staff on July 28.

"The president of Chapecoense, Plínio David Nês, asked me to report to you that the trip to visit Pope Francis in the Vatican is confirmed [...]. The president also said that the club WON'T pay for the costs related to the trip and each family will have to pay for their own expenses," the message read.

"Very few people are going. The trip would amount to R$ 10,000 (US$ 3,200) per person. Only those with a good financial condition will manage to go," Luiz Mauro Grohs told Folha - he is the brother of Luiz Felipe Grohs, known as Pipe, the team's performance analyst, killed in the accident.

Chapecoense confirms that it will not pay for the trip of the victims' relatives to the meeting with Pope Francis. The team also said that the decision was made because of the costs involving the entire operation.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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	Douglas Magno/AFP
	People await for the arrival of the funeral cortege of the players of Brazilian football team Chapecoense Real killed in a plane crash in the Colombian mountains, at the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco