Brazilian football team Chapecoense avoid fine for missing fixture after plane crash

The six survivors from a plane crash that claimed 19 of the Chapecoense football team's players, have been fined $40,000 for missing their final match of the season. Photo / Twitter

The surviving members of the Brazilian football team that lost 19 players when its plane crashed in Colombia last month, won't be fined $40,000 for missing their final match of the season, despite reports suggesting they would.

Only six players from the Chapecoense team made it out alive when LaMia's Avro RJ85 ran out of fuel and crashed near Medellin on November 28, en route to the Copa Sudamericana final.

Just days later, the final round of the Brazilian championship was set to take place, but a match between Chapecoense and Atletico Mineiro was cancelled because of the tragedy, the Mirror of the UK reported.

As a result of the missed fixture on December 1, initial reports suggested that the Superior Court of Justice decided to punish both Chapecoense and Mineiro for failing to play the match - each would have to pay $40,000 and would register a 3-0 loss.

However, AS.com, Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and ESPN have all denied the report saying the Supreme Court won't offer sanctions.

Meanwhile, Bolivia's defence minister has described the crash as a "murder," saying it was no accident.

"This was definitely no accident. This was a homicide. What happened in Medellin was murder," Defence Minister Reymi Ferreira said, the Metro newspaper of the UK reported.

"Obviously, if the pilot had complied with the regulation, which is to land in Cobija or Bogota (Colombia), or had at least declared an emergency from the beginning, before he was about to have an accident, it's possible this tragedy would not have happened," he said.