- Title: Belarus soccer match held as some fans boycott games over coronavirus
- Date: 5th April 2020
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FOOTBALL FAN, ANTON, SAYING: "The air is fresh here, there aren't that many people, we came in our own cars, we didn't use public transport. The weather is good. I think that there isn't such a big risk of getting infected in the stadium." VARIOUS OF FANS IN STAND VARIOUS OF PLAYERS WARMING UP SCOREBOARD (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FOOTBALL FAN, ANTON, SAYING: "Of course, it's a very worrying situation. There are more and more rumours that this is the last football match, that everything will stop soon for months. So I basically came for the last time to watch a football match before isolating." VARIOUS OF FANS WATCHING MATCH SECURITY GUARD WATCHING MATCH SECURITY GUARD WATCHING MATCH MATCH IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FC ENERGETIK-BGU SUPPORTER, IGOR, SAYING: "I'm not really very scared at the moment. Sweden hasn't banned events with more than 50 people, there was not that many gathered here. I think that all these quarantines should be for the elderly and young people." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING FROM STAND MAN WEARING SURGICAL MASK WATCHING MATCH
- Embargoed: 19th April 2020 17:05
- Keywords: Belarus football league COVID-19 Minsk coronavirus
- Location: MINSK, BELARUS
- City: MINSK, BELARUS
- Country: Belarus
- Topics: Health/Medicine,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA003C87SQIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Belarusian football teams Energetik-BGU and Minsk clashed in Minsk on Sunday (April 5) as some fan clubs in the country decided to boycott games amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Energetik-BGU beat Minsk 2-0 as the Belarusian Premier League remains the only one in Europe to continue with its season.
Football fan club Neman, from the city of Grodno, recently announced their boycott of the Belarusian Premier League and called on other clubs to do the same, as well as the Belarusian Football Federation to halt the championship.
Despite this, a crowd estimated to be around 250 attended the match in Minsk.
Last weekend, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko took part in an ice hockey match watched by a sizeable crowd, saying after the match that "It's better to die standing than to live on your knees".
Current figures estimate that Belarus has had 562 confirmed cases, a jump of 122 from Saturday (April 4) with eight deaths, three more than Saturday, from the coronavirus.
(Production: Vladimir Kostin, Peter Scott) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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