The 21-year-old son of late Chapecoense manager Caio Junior has revealed that a passport mishap saw him miss the team’s ultimately doomed flight to Colombia on Tuesday.
Caio Junior – a former manager in the UAE with Al Shabab and Al Jazira – was one of the 81 passengers on board, with 76 now reported dead after their plane crashed while attempting to land in Medellin.
Their family was spared further tragedy, however, after son Matheus Saroli posted on Facebook that he was also supposed to be travelling on the fateful flight, but was saved by his own forgetfulness.
Saroli said he could not board the flight from Sao Paolo after forgetting his passport.
The Chapecoense team was travelling for the final of the Copa Sudamericana, where they were due to face Medellin team Atletico Nacional on Wednesday.
Saroli’s Facebook post.
His post [above], read:
Friends, me and my brother are well. We need to ask you to give us some privacy, especially my mother and I.
Thank you all for calling and sending messages – I was in SP today and I did not board because I forgot my passport.
We are strong we will go through it. Thanks to all.