CBF to make rights for Chapecoense benefit game freely available

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has moved to make the broadcast rights to the forthcoming friendly game between Brazil and Colombia, which is designed to benefit Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A club Chapecoense, freely available on a global basis.

Nineteen of Chapecoense’s players were killed in November when their plane came down on a mountainside near La Union, a small town near the Colombian city of Medellin, where the team had been travelling to face local side Atletico Nacional in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.

Brazil will face Colombia in the friendly match at the Estádio Nilton Santos (Engenhão) in Rio de Janeiro on January 25. Revenue generated from the game will be allocated to Chapecoense, which will use it to compensate the families of the players, coaching staff and club officials affected by the tragedy.

The CBF has said it will make the game freely available to all broadcasters to ensure it receives wide exposure. However, it has requested that those that pick up the rights make a donation to the relief efforts for Chapecoense.

Internet rights for the match are being retained by the CBF, which will live stream the event via its official page on social media platform Facebook.

The game will only feature players based in their respective home countries. Media company Globo and pay-television broadcaster SporTV are the traditional rights-holders to the Brazilian national team.