Chapecoense plane crash survivor Alan Ruschel has sued his former club in a Brazil court for moral damages, unpaid wages and the late payment of insurance from the 2016 accident.
The defender was one of three Chapecoense players that survived the crash that killed 71 people in Colombia on Nov. 28, 2016. Ruschel, 31, who left Chapecoense after his contract expired earlier this year, is demanding compensation in the amount of $645.335.
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"The accident was in 2016 and the families received [the insurance payment] five days later," Ruschel's lawyer Mariju Ramos Maciel told the media. "Alan got it in 2019."
Ruschel's lawyer claimed his client was not paid for the last six months of his contract and is also owed image rights payments.
"One regrets having to enter into legal action because we never intended it to arrive to this point, " Ramos Maciel said.
"But the traumas were great. We didn't think we would have to stir this [tragedy] again. We tried everything possible [with arbitration] but there was no progress."
Chapecoense said they have not been officially notified of the lawsuit and will not comment for the time being.
The hearing will start on July 6 in Belo Horizonte.
Ruschel captained Chapecoense when the team based in Chapecoense won the 2020 Serie B title last year and gained promotion to Brazil's top flight.
Ruschel joined Cruzeiro as a free agent in February and was this week loaned to Brazilian top division club America-MG for the remainder of the year. He was unveiled at America on Wednesday.
Chapecoense's plane went down as it ran out of fuel en route to the team's first South American tournament final against Colombia's Atletico Nacional.
The southern Brazilian team was later awarded the Copa Sudamericana title, despite not playing the final.
