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Belarusian Premier League on Thursday kicked off its season with fans amid the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus which has forced all major sporting events across the world to closure.
The Chairman of the Football Federation of Belarus (BFF) Vladimir Bazanov supported the decision and said there was no reason to postpone or cancel the event and reiterated that the situation in the country is under control.
“For what reason should we not start it? Is a state of emergency declared in our country? There is no critical situation. So we decided that we are starting the championship in a timely manner. Today,” Bazanov was quoted as saying by the local media.
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“Many matches in Europe have been played without spectators. But so many fans gather around the stadium that it makes no sense to close off the game,” the chairman added.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has already killed more than 10,000 people and infected over 2,45,000 people worldwide, has forced the officials of all the top five leagues in Europe to postpone them till further notice.
The UEFA has also cancelled the matches of the Champions League and the Europa League which were due to take place on March 17 and 18. The draw event to decide quarterfinal ties of both the tournaments were cancelled.
The UEFA Euro 2020 and the Copa America 2020 which were scheduled to be played in June and July of this year have been pushed to the summer of the next year. The FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers have also been postponed.
However, the Belarusian authorities defied all the challenges and opened their league on Thursday with fans in attendance in the first match between BATE and Energetyk-Bgu which the former lost 3-1.
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