1st April and it’s no joke, European football is at a standstill (see article 4). All championships? No, not all of them. In Belarus, life and football go on. For Alexander Lukashenko, whom many consider to be the last European dictator, this health crisis is just a « psychosis », so there are no valid reasons to stop the country’s football championship, called the Vycheïchaïa Liha (Upper League).
This championship, unknown to the general public, is therefore the only way today for football fans to see football on television, and Belarusian clubs and authorities are well aware of this. This health and economic crisis is not going to affect the Vycheïchaïa Liha, quite the contrary. Indeed, never before has the Belarusian championship attracted so much attention in Europe, or even in the world. Television channels from all over the world have even just acquired the TV rights to the championship, in order to offer live football on television . Over there, while some inhabitants are aware of the seriousness of the situation, many continue to live without worrying, as their president advised: « better to die with dignity than to live on your knees »… The stadiums of the different clubs in the championship are not empty, less full than usual, but they are not deserted and this allows the clubs to earn ticketing revenues, which is not negligible.
It goes even further, sports bettors around the world no longer have the option of betting on the NBA or the Premier League, as eyes are now riveted on the 25th European Championship at UEFA club coefficients. Clubs are seeing their visibility increase. Many football fans are familiar with BATE Borisov or the capital club, Dinamo Minsk, but few purists know of other clubs in this great country between Poland, Ukraine and Russia.
So yes, for us, French or Irish, it may seem shocking, but Belarusian sport will not have suffered from this crisis, the better they will have acquired TV rights and a certain visibility, unimaginable before this pandemic.
CC
- https://sport24.lefigaro.fr/football/etranger/actualites/coronavirus-le-cas-deroutant-du-belarus-seul-championnat-de-football-maintenu-997977
- https://www.liberation.fr/sports/2020/03/31/coronavirus-la-bielorussie-completement-foot_1783696
- https://fr.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/#/yr/2020
Charles 