Football Europe has recently turned into a place for political battles, where the sporting principle is relegated to last place. Here is another decision by British functionaries directed against players from the Russian championship.

Sports officials decided to use meanness to achieve the most important victory.

“We set maximum goals”

The UEFA Nations League is taking place without the participation of the Russian team, and it is not yet known when our team will be allowed to participate in international competitions. But officially, nothing prevents football players from other countries who play in Russian championships from taking part in national team matches.

Now many foreign football players have gone to the location of national teams during the pause. Moreover, not only players from MIR RPL clubs are called up to the national teams. Players from MELBET-First League are also called up to modest national teams. Thus, Vitaly Lisakovich and Valery Bocherov, playing for Baltika and Ufa, respectively, were invited to the Belarusian national team.

For the Belarusian national team, the upcoming meetings with Northern Ireland and Bulgaria play a vital role, as the team claims first place in Group C3. The confrontation with the British is especially important for the fraternal state, because in the standings they are separated by only one point.

— Since after four matches we still have a chance for first place, there can be no other tasks. I and the whole team understand this. Objectives will be set from match to match. We will play the first match, and only after that we will prepare for the second. We cannot prepare without thinking about victory, without thinking about the maximum result. Therefore, we set maximum goals for the match with Northern Ireland,” said the head coach of the national team, Carlos Alos, on the air of “First Information”.

Carlos Alos Ferrer / Photo: © Belarusian Football Federation

“Everyone sees the table”

Naturally, this situation could not be avoided without politics. British officials helped out the modest Northern Irish team by not issuing visas to three players. Lisakovich and Bocherov were accompanied by one of the best scorers of the Belarusian championship, Pavel Savitsky, who scored 13 goals in the Major League for Neman Grodno in 2024.

As a result, the national team will go to the most important game in Bulgaria without three players. The Belarusian side failed to do anything in this situation.

— I’ll work for three days, and then I’ll go with the guys who also don’t have a visa to Bulgaria. Let’s cheer for the team. Everyone sees the table, you need to take six points in these matches. They didn’t give it (visa), what can I do here? They gave it to all the kids except the three of us. It happens,” said Lisakovich.

The British embassy did not give a reason for refusing to issue a visa, but this decision by officials will clearly play into the hands of the Northern Ireland team, whose odds of winning have jumped sharply.