Croatian Sokol crowned champions in Chile’s amateur football

The Croatian football club Sokol from the Chilean city of Punta Arenas became champions of their southern Magallanes region after beating the team Ibáñez 1-0 in the amateur championship final.

Sokol, founded by Croatian expats in 1912, had already been champions of the city of Punta Arenas in April, CE Report quotes HINA.

In the Magallanes region, officially called Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, there are 167,000 inhabitants. Around 25,000 of them have Croatian roots, according to estimates by the local Croatian community.

Emigrants from Dalmatia began settling there at the end of the 19th century because Punta Arenas was an important trading port between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans until the Panama Canal was dug.

The Croatian sports club Sokol today has around 700 members, and its athletes compete in several sports.