Alexander Lukashenko with full confidence can be called the main fan of Belarus. In his youth, the future president himself dreamed of becoming a professional player, but his fate prepared a different path for him. However, the passion for football in politics has not cooled down at all.
It is not surprising that the leader of Belarus takes each failure of his team very seriously. A couple of years ago, another defeat of the national team literally brought Lukashenka out of himself.
Alexander Grigoryevich started with the players and eventually tore the entire Belarusian football to pieces.
“Why did you bring them to the field?”
In September 2021, the senior and junior teams of Belarus played in the qualifying tournament for the European Championship. Both teams failed miserably – they lost 0: 1 and 1: 2 to the Czech Republic and Iceland, respectively, having practically lost the chances of reaching the final stage.
Belarusian Football Federation
The next day, September 3, 2021, Alexander Lukashenko participated in the opening ceremony of the Dynamo youth academy, where the top officials of the local football federation met. The President did not miss the opportunity to kick the ball around with the children and… express everything he thinks about the national team players and officials who “rest more than do anything.”
– Why did the players get loose on the field yesterday? They went out to rest. I was ashamed to look at them against the background of Icelanders, – Lukashenka turned to the officials.
Belarusian Football Federation
This is only a small part of a long monologue in which the president reprimanded not only the national team, but also the players of his beloved Dynamo Minsk. He asked about the average salary in the team and ordered the players to sleep with the ball, thinking only about football, so as not to dishonor “people’s money.”
Lukashenka touched not only professional sports. The head of state said that one of the main problems of Belarusian football is the underdevelopment of amateur tournaments, where boys and girls fight harder than those who have reached the elite. This is especially true for young players, who, according to the president, are spoiled by big salaries: “There will be no more easy money,” said the politician.
Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus
Not without analogies with Russia and other countries:
– Lost, so at least show that you fought. Today sport is war, you have to go to war. You see, here is Russia… what can we match? 140-150 million, and we are 10. There are only a few hundred thousand inhabitants in Iceland,” Lukashenka said.
“No result, no coach”
The head of state promised to take football under his personal control. The first day after the meeting, a salary cap bill was issued, which is still in effect: $5,800.
Subsequently, the president smashed the entire national system of training athletes. On the one hand, it seemed that Lukashenka almost headed the Belarusian Ministry of Sports:
I want to warn everyone: build a system. The books you published and delivered to me are good. Programs and plans are great, but we need results. And each coach, in addition to the result, should give two or three talented athletes to the top, let him raise them up. If it is not like that and there is no result, then there is no coach”, snapped the head of state.
Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus
Before that, the president was actively involved in the development of sports: he created national development programs and directed large funds for the construction of youth academies. Lukashenka is also a big fan of Dynamo Minsk.
