Political Interference in Football: How Visa Denials Impact Belarus’ UEFA Nations League Chances

Recently European Football has turned into a place for political battles, where the principle of the sport is relegated to the last place. Here is another decision by British officials directed against players from the Russian tournament.

Sports officials decided to use common sense to achieve the most important effect.

“We set the highest goals”

The UEFA Nations League is taking place without the participation of the Russian team, and it is still unknown when our team will be allowed to participate in international competitions. But officially, nothing prevents football players from other countries who play in Russian competitions from participating in national team matches.

Now many foreign football players have gone to the position of national teams during the break. Furthermore, it is not only players from MIR RPL clubs who are called up to the national teams. Players from MELBET-First League are also called up to central national teams. Therefore, the Belarusian national team was invited Vitaly Lisakovich and Valery Bocherov, playing for Baltika and Ufa, respectively.

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

– Since we still have a chance for first place after four games, there can be no other actions. I and the whole team understand this. Goals will be set from match to match. We will play the first game, and immediately after that we will prepare for the second one. We cannot prepare without thinking of effect, without thinking of the greatest result. Therefore, we set the highest goals for the game with Northern Ireland,” said the head coach of the national team, Carlos Alos, on the air “First Information”.

Carlos Alos Ferrer / Photo: © Belarus Football Federation

“Everyone can see the board”

Naturally, this situation could not be avoided without politics. British officials helped the small Northern Ireland team by not giving visas to three players. Lisakovich and Bocherov were joined by one of the top scorers in the Belarusian competition, Pavel Savitsky, who scored 13 Premier League goals for Neman Grodno in 2024.

As a result, the national team will go to the most important match in Bulgaria without three players. The Belarusian side did nothing in this situation.

– I will work for three days, and then I will go with the guys who don’t have a visa to Bulgaria as well. Let’s cheer for the team. Everyone sees the table, you have to take six points in these games. They didn’t give it (visa), what can I do here? They gave it to all the children except the three of us. It’s happening,” Lisakovich said.

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 chances of winning have jumped significantly.