Chapecoense set to return to playing in January

CONMEBOL announced on Tuesday that the Brazilian side is scheduled to play Internacional de Lages in the Campeonato Catarinense on January 29.

Embattled Brazilian club Chapecoense has been invited by FC Barcelona to compete in next year's Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou.

Chapecoense is set to play its first official match since the tragic plane disaster which devastated the club late last month.

CONMEBOL announced on Tuesday that the Brazilian side is scheduled to play Internacional de Lages in the Campeonato Catarinense on January 29.

Chapecoense players, backroom staff and officials were among the 71 people to lose their lives when a flight carrying them to the Copa Sudamericana final first leg against Atletico Nacional went down in Cerro Gordo, La Union in Colombia.

The Chapeco-based club has since been named the winner of that competition by South American football's governing body as the world rallies around the grief-stricken team.

Chapecoense has also begun the rebuilding process, appointing Vagner Mancini as head coach after Caio Junior was among those killed en route to Medellin.

Awaiting Mancini is a friendly with Spanish champions Barcelona, which has invited Chapecoense to compete in next year's Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou.