In the aftermath of the tragedy that killed 75 of the 81 people on board the Chapecoense football team’s chartered jet to Medellin, Columbia, the nineteen other clubs in Brazil’s First Division agreed to a set of principles that will enable the beleaguered team from Southern Brazil to remain a viable franchise.
They agreed to exempt Chapecoense from relegation for three years. Chapecoense had only recently been promoted to the First Division after decades of playing further down on the country’s professional pyramid. Moreover, the other clubs have offered Chapecoense access to first division talent by providing them with players free on loan, which, in American professional sports terms, would amount to an expansion draft.