Popular Sports in Belarus.. Hockey.. Football.

Popular Sports in Belarus.

Hockey.

Hockey is loved in Belarus most of all. The open championship of the country includes two leagues: the Extraleague (division I) and the Major League (division II).

The leading hockey club of Belarus is “Dinamo-Minsk” which plays in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) championship. The team holds home games at “Minsk-Arena” – one of the largest hockey arenas in Europe.

The average attendance of “Dinamo-Minsk” home games in the KHL Championship of 2011/2012 amounted to 14, 197 people, in 2010/2011 – 10, 538 people. Both indicators are record-breaking for KHL.

But Belarus’ favorite team is the national hockey team. The national team of Belarus held its first game on November 7, 1992, and at the World Championship it was qualified for the third division. In 1997 the team entered the elite division in which it debuted at the World Championship of 1998. The national team of Belarus played 13 World Championships (1998-2001, 2003, 2005–present) in the strongest division. The most successful was the World Championship of 2006 in Riga, when the team placed 6th.

Not only professional, but also amateur hockey is developing in Belarus. There is an amateur “Night Hockey League” (NHL) in Minsk. Its games are held late at night. The nationwide hockey tournament “Golden Puck” is held for children and teenagers.

Football.

Football is very popular in Belarus, just like in the rest of the world. The program of development of mass football has been passed in Belarus. Football fields are being constructed far and wide. But at the same time, the national championship doesn’t attract fans as much.

The football championship of Belarus includes three leagues. 11 teams participate in the major league, where the champion of the country is determined in the three-round tournament.

In recent years, the football club BATE from Borisov, which became the champion of the country seven times within the last 10 years (from 2002 to 2011), has been the undoubted leader of Belarusian football. BATE is also successful on the international arena: from 2008 to 2012 it has become the participant of the group round of the UEFA Champions League three times, and the group round of the European League – two times. BATE holds the home games of the Champions League in Minsk on the “Dinamo” stadium which seats 30, 000 viewers. These games provoke great interest among Belarusian fans.

BATE achieved most of all success in the Champions League of 2012 at the start of the group tournament after beating “Lille” of France and Munich’s “Bayern” with an equal score, 3: 1.

The national football team of Belarus, which has been headed by GeorgyKondratiev since 2012, hasn’t achieved significant success in its brief history yet and hasn’t participated in top tournaments. But the qualifying games of European and world championships provoke great interest among football fans.

The youth national team of Belarus (U-21) has also achieved success. It played in the final tournaments of European championships three times (2004, 2009 and 2011). In 2004 and 2009 the team wasn’t able to pull through the group stage of the tournament, and in 2011 it became the bronze prize-winner of the championship and won the right to participate at the Olympic Games in London.

At the Olympic Games the team wasn’t able to pull through the group tournament, after beating the national team of New Zealand (1: 0) and losing to the teams of Brazil and Egypt with an equal score, 1: 3.

The most famous football player of Belarus is Alexander Gleb who played for Germany’s “Stuttgart”, England’s “Arsenal” and Spain’s “Barcelona”. He now plays for BATE.

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