Belarusian football has also lost its fear of the authoritarian president Alexandr Lukashenko, a great ice hockey fan. Footballers and coaches have taken sides in favor of the people and have spoken out against the violent repression of post-election demonstrations.
‘NIET’ TO THE BELARUS TEAM
“I refuse to represent the national team as long as the Lukashenko regime exists,” Ilia Shkurin, Belarusian striker for CSKA Moscow, wrote on his Instagram account.
At just 20 years old, Shkurin identifies with the thousands of Belarusians his age who took to the streets of Minsk and other cities this week to denounce fraud in the presidential elections on August 9, in which the electoral commission awarded him victory. the current president, Alexandr Lukashenko, with 80% of the votes.
A newcomer to CSKA, Shkurin is considered one of the great promises of Belarusian football, not in vain was the league's top scorer last season.
A FOOTBALL PLAYER ARRESTED IN PROTESTS
The police contributed to the national soccer solidarity wave with the protests by arresting Anton Saroka, forward of the all-powerful BATÉ Borisov, this week.
Saroka, 28, was arrested on August 11 for participating in the demonstrations that broke out in the Belarusian capital and was sentenced to seven days in a detention center, where human rights organizations have denounced numerous cases of abuse and torture.
“Anton is not a criminal, like the rest of the teams. He is one of us!”, Wrote in his defense the captain of BATÉ, Igor Stasevich, a call supported by numerous footballers from different clubs in the country.
The general director of the club, Mikhail Zalevski, went even further, as he recorded in a video on social networks how he threw his police uniform into a garbage can, since in the past he worked in the Ministry of the Interior. The manager charged against police violence, which he considered illegal.
THE CSKA TECHNICIAN AGAINST LUKASHENKO
Nor did the CSKA coach and former BATE coach, Victor Goncharenko, bite his tongue, calling what is happening in Belarus “unacceptable”.
“I am categorically against how they beat our wonderful and peaceful Belarusian people. The police and riot police must protect the people not to hit them,” he told a press conference last night in Moscow.
Goncharenko, whose team leads the Russian league with the same points as Zenit and Lokomotiv, said he supports the popular demand for a “fair” recount of votes.
Some Belarusian footballers expressed their support for the protests by wearing a white ribbon, although they refused to speak publicly for fear that they would be forced to do military service and be ordered to disperse the protesters.
RUSSIAN FANS SUPPORT PROTESTS
In Moscow, Shkurin was supported by fans of his team, who did not hesitate to repeat the traditional chant of the Belarusian opposition: “Zhivie Belarus!” (Long live Belarus) when Shkurin himself scored the winning goal against Tambov (2-1).
For this reason, according to the Russian press, several fans of the Moscow team were arrested last night by the police and could be punished with a ban on entering a stadium for an indeterminate period of time.
CSKA fans did not stop there, but instead displayed in solidarity a white, red and white flag that symbolizes the protest movement in the neighboring country. As Efe was able to verify, the same happened at the Lokomotiv Moscow stadium during the match against Krasnodar.
The press reported that the authorities could ban the display of the flag in stadiums just after Lukashenko spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Precisely to avoid that the stadiums were the scene of demonstrations of support in favor of the opposition, the Belarusian federation canceled the matches that were to be held in Minsk on the eve of the presidential elections.