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If anyone is interested the Belarus Women's Season has started..............
Here is a short preview
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blog...er-league.html
And some thoughts on trying to watch the first match....
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blog...0-belarus.htmlComment
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If Belarussian football is not your thing, the league in the Faeroe Isles are about to commence with the first round of the season next weekend. Of course, unlike Belarus , the Faroese have tested half their poulation and seem ti be one of the places that have dealt with the virus in a highly responsible manner. Norwegian TV have bought the rights, I don't know if they also have been sold to other countries. The football will probably not be much to shout about, but the sorrounding scienery should ensure watching will be all the more fascinating.Comment
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Are the matches being played without fans?Comment
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I posted something similar on the Coronavirus and Footballers thread. It is Norway's TV2 Sport 1 who have obtained rights but I think this is a pay subscription channel. Hopefully the matches will also be available on YouTube or MyCujoo or some other streaming service. TV2 are planning to show three consecutive matches on Saturday.Originally posted by Belhaven View Post
The K League also starts next week-end, with the first match at 11am UK time on Friday, but is also unclear at the moment how these can be viewed.
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Yes, initially games in the Faroes will be behind closed doors, although looking at some of the pictures of the grounds people will be able to watch from outside the ground !Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
The K-League will also start beind closed doorsComment
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And in at least one case from boats . . .Comment
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Coronavirus: With football suspended across Europe, I've fallen for a team in Belarus
It's a pretty cringe-inducing article but he's right about their kit. I meant to post about it a few weeks ago, they look like the kind of crack East European outfit Melchester Rovers would play on a 1978 pre-season tour.
https://twitter.com/fcneman/status/1253782167026569217?s=20
Last edited by Ray de Galles; 04-05-2020, 12:39.Comment
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The stadiums in the 2019 Faroe Islands top division https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH9N_Sc0qP4Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
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Some thoughts on Round 2 of the Belarus Women's Premier League......
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blog...er-league.htmlComment
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cup final today at 1500, should be on youtube- bate vs dinamo brestComment
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Potentially key match in Belarus this weekend as BATE take on Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( top vs second ) on Sunday 6pm UK time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJqvm1aEjA
There is the usual programme of 8 matches all being shown live on YouTube - Friday 4pm & 6pm, Saturday 2pm, 4pm & 6pm and Sunday 2pm, 4pm & 6pmComment
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BATE vs Shakhtyor finished 2-2. Highlights attached. In the second half BATE played very direct, getting the ball forward as quickly as possible, and getting crosses in the penalty area as the Shakhtyor defence, which had previously only conceded 3 goals all season, does lack height. Shakhtyor's equalizer probably would have been disallowed had there been VAR, but it looks to me that the BATE keeper had lost control but the time Szoke and a defender had slide into him ?Originally posted by fatbear View Post
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czE9MBwfGvEComment
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Incredibly, I am still watching the Belarus Premier League far more than I am my own domestic league (League 1 doesn’t start to October and I really can’t be bothered with the Old Firm).
Me and an equally desperate friend looking for something to take the edge off no football in March chose our teams (I was Slavia Mozyr and he was Belshina) and have been watching ever since. I put them on in the background while working and he used to play highlights on his online Zoom quiz that he was doing in lieu of the actual pub quiz he hosts.
It’s now developed to the point where I know the second I stop watching, I lose the main reason for maintaining regular contact with one of my good friends. He had retired from social gatherings a year or two ago and I basically spoke to him every six months before lockdown. Now we speak every week on Zoom about Belarusian football and it makes me want to keep watching.
Life-affirming personal chat aside, the League is actually really exciting. The quality isn’t world class but it’s highly entertaining and every week there’s usually some calamitous clownshoes 4-4 carnage game.
Shakhtar and BATE are locked in a battle at the top as BATE try to avoid an unprecedented second year without a title while Shakhtar try to stop the curse of every non-BATE team who flies too close to the sun by mysteriously losing games that definitely are not fixed (there’s honestly been about 4 or 5 times this season where high flyers lose to haddies out of nowhere and drop below BATE, it is bizarre).
Belshina and Smolevichi are in a relegation fight to the death with Belshina pulling out some incredible results as of late to defy the odds and get themselves off the bottom of the table, with BGU-Energetik have free fallen after Shakhtar stole the league’s top goal scorer Yakhshiboev from them and have no other goal scoring threats. Couple it with the instability in the region and it’s a far more fascinating watch than any of the top leagues at the moment.
It’s a fun league to follow, satiates my post-Soviet fetishism, and you can get genuinely invested. Long live Belarus and their wildly flagrant disregard for global pandemics!Comment
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There is a definite alternate universe vibe to the league going on as of normal notwithstanding the pandemic, the elections or the post election turmoil.
Is there a.clear link between the regime and BATE? The enterprise is certainly an exemplar of Lukashenko's "base"Comment
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I don’t think there is any concrete links but he was certainly very hands on with the construction of their stadium and I wouldn’t be surprised if he sees them as a sort of FC Astana-style PR brand to extol the virtues of Belarus on the European stage.
That said, one of their key players got detained for partaking in protests and BATE’s president publically chucked his old police uniform in the bin as a symbolic gesture, so doubt they are on speaking terms.
There is something very odd about the way every team who mounts a challenge drops off the second they overtake BATE though. Neman Grodno and Energetik had it happen to them this year and Shakhtar are basically one game away from the same fate now. I guess there is something to be said of BATE just consistently winning and title-winning sides picking up points while playing terribly but even then, they have been average by their usual standards this year.Comment
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I also have kept in contact with an old friend via the Friday live games from Belarus, swopping messages via WhatsApp ( which I have only joined in order to do this ! ). I opted for Shakhtyor as my team.........
The regime are not particularly interested in football, and BATE are not in Minsk. They were on the wrong side of a dodgy refereeing decision in the 2-2 home draw with Shakhtyor, allowing a late equalizer when the BATE keeper looked to have been fouled, which at least gave some comfort that the league isn't being fixed in their favour ! They too have been prone to losing games in unexpected circumstances, twice throwing away 2 goal leads ( 2-3 Torpedo, 2-2 vs Vitebsk ), and had two abysmal home losses ( 0-1 Energetik, 0-2 Dinamo Minsk ). They have an ageing team that is capable of looking brilliant for 30 minutes or so but teams seem to have lost their fear of BATE, and now know that going a goal behind doesn't settle the result, and for all their brillance going forward BATE can be very shaky at the back. The title may well be decided by the return match at Shakhtyor.
However, Shakhtyor are themselves in a bit of turmoil, having this week sacked their manager and have a 27 year old interim coach. The board at Shakhtyor have a reputation for being difficult to work with but the reasons for Vernidub's departure are not clear. The 2-4 loss at Isloch was their first league defeat in 16 games, although they fielded a weakened side in the Europa League against a Moldovan team and lost on penalties after playing over 90 minutes with 10 men. Had they not started the season slowly ( too many games where they dominated but failed to score ) they would have the championship all but wrapped up.
It certainly is an exciting league to watch, with Belshina's battle to avoid relegation every bit as dramatic as the going ons at the top. Games involving Dinamo Brest, Slavia, Energetik and Isloch are usually worth watching, those involving Dinamo Minsk or Gorodeya are best avoided !Comment
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What are the crowds like now?Comment
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The last round of league matches were behind closed doors. The virus didn't stop crowds being allowed, but the fear of protests being broadcast on state TV, which happened in the Shakhtyor v Dinamo Brest match, where over 4,000 attended, did prevent spectators from watching football.................
Prior to that attendances were starting to get back to normal, BATE got over 4,000 for the visit of Gorodeya. The week before, Dinamo Brest got over 4,400 for the visit of Vitebsk and Torpedo got nearly 4,000 for the visit of BATE.
There was a large crowd for the Kurmkachy vs Dinamo Minsk cup tie on Tuesday. I've not seen any official figure but I'd guess there was around 3,000 packed into the small ground to witness a huge shock as Dinamo, missing just their 2 players in the Belarus squad for the National League games, lost 0-2. The start of the game was strange - Krumkachy kicked off by kicking the ball to the Dinamo keeper and all their players stood still and started clapping. The crowd joined in and the Dinamo players just walked around. After about 1 minute 45 seconds the game started in earnest. Krumkachy had two players beated up by the secret police a couple of days before, supposedly on their way home from training. One of them is expected to be in hospital for at least a month.Comment
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The title race in Belarus took another twist with BATE losing 2-4 at home to Dinamo Brest. BATE fought back from 0-2 to level the match but conceded a contraversial "Geoff Hurst" goal in the 90th minute, and were caught on the break again afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0IAmYFY-Ag&t=517sComment
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Title contenders Shakhtar also had their game on Saturday against Belshina postponed after several Belshina players contracted COVID-19.
Belshina themselves are very much in a battle, having miraculously turned round their abysmal form to bring themselves close to pulling out of the relegation zone and after having had some decent results recently will be gutted for the stoppage in play.
I think Gorodeya are doomed to the other relegation spot along with Smolevichi by virtue of A) having played more games than everyone else and B) being shite.
Genuinely don’t know who will win the league, but I am praying that it is Shakhtar.Comment
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I suspect Slutsk will take the automatic relegation place, with either Gorodeya or Belshina in the play-off. Gorodeya are being strengthened by a couple of new signings by Shakhtyor who are being loaned to Gorodeya for the rest of the season. Personally, I hope Belshina's spirit prevails, but they have a tough run in
Although I am supporting Shakhtyor, don't rule out Neman for the title, they have 4 very winnable games to come, so if Shakhtyor and BATE draw, a win over Dinamo Brest on the final day could see the title going to Grodno !Comment
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Another weekend of twists and turns in Belarus as Neman and Shakhtyor lose at home, whilst BATE can only draw away at Isloch. None of the top 3 are showing the form required to clinch the title. Defending champions Dinamo Brest still have a mathematical chance of retaining their title after their 4th consecutive win.
At the bottom wins for Gorodeya and Slutsk pull them clear of Belshina, whose match was postponed due to an outbreak of Covis in their camp.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blog...l-week-26.htmlComment
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The final games in the Belarus Premier League all kick-off tomorrow at 11am UK and all are being streamed on YouTube.
A win for BATE win see them regain the title, a draw would be sufficient if Shakhtyor fail to win their match, but a loss for BATE would see Shakhtyor become champions if they avoid defeat, as with an equal head to head record they have the better goal difference.
Wins for Neman and Torpedo would see them take third and fourth respectively ( Neman have the superior head to head record between the two sides ), but any slip up could enable either ( or both ) Dinamo sides to overtake them. If both Dinamos win and Torpedo draw they would all finish with 54 points and it gets very complicated !!
A win for Dinamo Brest over Neman would almost certainly guarantee them at least fourth place. However, fourth place will only qualify for the Europa Conference if the Belarus Cup is won by a side finishing in the top three, and that won’t be known until next May !
At the bottom Smolevichy and Belshina are already relegated, and Slusk face the two-legged relegation/promotion play-off againsk NFK Krumkachy, with the matches next Wednesday and Sunday.
Dinamo Minsk vs BATE is behind closed doors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekeZtvhvfpc
Shaktyor vs FK Minsk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifgb4YGwSC8
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