Thursday 8 December 2016 14:22, UK
Barcelona have invited Chapecoense to play at the Nou Camp in the Joan Gamper Trophy next year.
The Brazilian club is beginning to rebuild in the wake of last week's tragic air crash in Colombia which claimed the lives of 19 of their players and Barcelona are also keen to help with those efforts as well.
A total of 71 people were killed in the crash which occurred outside the Colombian city of Medellin, where Chapecoense were scheduled to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional.
The Joan Gamper Trophy, named after one of the club's founders, is Barcelona's traditional curtain raiser to the season and is usually played in early August.
A statement read: "FC Barcelona wants to pay tribute to the 71 people who died in the accident and their families, and will therefore make the 2017 Joan Gamper Trophy a great tribute to the world of football through various activities around this match which will become known as the date of this celebration approaches.
"Along with the invitation to Chapecoense to the 2017 Joan Gamper Trophy, FC Barcelona would like to collaborate on the institutional and sporting reconstruction of the club, and help to recover the competitive level that it had.
"FC Barcelona has today sent a formal letter of invitation to the current Board of Directors of Chapecoense."
Meanwhile Alan Ruschel, one of three Chapecoense players to survive the crash, has taken his first steps following spinal surgery.
The 27-year-old recorded a message to supporters, saying: "I would like to tell you that I am recovering very well, I will soon come back to Brazil to finish my recovery.
"I would like to thank all of you, for the support given and by the vows of affection that I also received, I just wanted to thank everyone, thank you very much."
