Chapecoense fire coach Vagner Mancini
By Andrew Downie
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Chapecoense have fired coach Vagner Mancini, the man appointed seven months ago to rebuild the side after an airline crash tragically wiped out most of the first team squad.
Chapecoense "communicate the decision of Vagner Mancini's departure as coach," the Brazilian club said in a brief statement on Tuesday.
"The board recognises the relevant work done by the professional Vagner Mancini in the process of reconstructing the club and the important results achieved in the 2017 season."
Mancini took over in December after a plane carrying the Chapecoense team to play Atletico Nacional in the final of the Copa Sudamericana crashed into a mountainside outside Medellin. All but six of the 77 people on board were killed.
Mancini was named just days later and signed more than a dozen new players while helping guide the club through the glare of publicity that surrounded the rebuilding effort.
He led his revamped side to the Santa Catarina state championship in April and they started their first division campaign well, briefly leading the league.
The club have won just two of their last eight games, however, and a 3-3 draw at Fluminense on Tuesday prompted directors to act.
His sacking comes a day after another surprise parting of ways.
Sao Paulo sacked coach Rogerio Ceni, the goalscoring keeper who was a hero to the club's fans, after just seven months in charge. Sao Paulo were fourth-bottom of the league, two places below Chapecoense.
(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by Catherine Evans)