The president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko has publicly criticised senior officials for the country failing to reach the World Cup finals.
A televised meeting saw him berating Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk, Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Igor Lutsky, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko and the President of the Belarusian National Olympic Committee Viktor Lukashenko, because Belarus were not at the finals.
Footage showed the president personally attacking Mr Kovalchuk on the lack of a Belarusian team at the World Cup in Qatar.
He said: “The World Cup is on. Sergei Mikhailovich, I somehow didn’t spot our football players there. Or am I just missing something?”
He went on: “They are nowhere near. Moreover, I compare the performance of our football players with the football played at the World Cup today. More than that, these players are demonstrating such results in winter. And as a former football player who played a lot of football, I just get scared.”
The President continued: “This sport, like many others, is in dire straits in our country. When I was appointing you [Sergei Kovalchuk], I hoped that you, as a military man who loves and knows sport, will turn things around.”
Unsurprisingly, no one was brave enough to tell Lukashenko that as he has been in power since 1994, he might be to blame as well.
Once called the last dicator in Europe, Lukashenko has clung onto power since disputed elections in 2020, which many claim he lost and led to widespread protests against his rule and a crackdown by the authorities on the growing opposition movement.
Belarus failed to qualify for Qatar after finishing last in their group, which also contained Wales.
In eight matches they won just one game, against second-botton Estonia. In one match they were trounced 8-0 by Belgium.
Belarus have never qualified for the World Cup finals since becoming an independent country, following the break up of the Soviet Union, in 1990. Arguably the country’s most famous player is Alexander Hleb, who used to play for Arsenal.
Belarus have in fact been banned from a large number of sporting events, following its support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In February, the day after the Russian invasion began, the IOC called on "all International Sports Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus”.
UEFA, the European governing body for football has subsequently prohibited Belarusian national and club teams from hosting international matches and competitions.
However, unlike its neighbour Russia, the European country will in fact be allowed to try and qualify for the men’s 2024 European Championship.
