Colombian club calls for Brazilian rival to be awarded Sudamericana Cup

BOGOTA ( Reuters) - Colombian club Atletico Nacional on Tuesday publicly asked the South American football federation CONMEBOL to award the Sudamericana Cup to Brazilian rival Chapecoense after most of the team's players were killed in an air crash.

Chapecoense had been en route to Medellin to play Atletico Nacional when the team's plane went down on Monday night.

"Atletico Nacional asks CONMEBOL that the Sudamericana Cup title be awarded to the Chapecoense Football Association as a laurel in honour of its great loss and a posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal accident that has left our sport in mourning," read a statement on the club's website.

"As far as we are concerned, Chapecoense will forever be the champions of the Sudamericana Cup 2016."

(Reporting by Helen Murphy; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Anthony Boadle and Bill Trott)