Since November 20, the attention of football fans from all over the world has been attracted by the World Cup in football, which is being held in Qatar this year.

The Belarusian national team has never participated in such a tournament, and the opportunities of the clubs and the national team of Belarus are severely limited after the start of the war in Ukraine and the complicity of the Belarusian authorities in the aggression against the neighboring country.

There is no success in the international arena either, football players are left to participate in domestic tournaments - the championship and the drawing of the football cup.

There is football in Belarus, which only a relatively narrow circle of people knows about.

In Svaboda's material, journalist and former political prisoner

talks about football behind bars.

"Football was the first thing I saw in the colony"

Oleg was arrested at the end of December 2021.

He spent several months in a pre-trial detention center, after the trial he served his sentence in a colony near Mogilev.

He says that after being transferred there, he first had to serve the so-called quarantine - spend several weeks apart from other prisoners.

But he encountered local "football players" almost immediately after being transferred from the pre-trial detention center.

"Football was the first thing I saw in the colony," says Oleg.

- We were taken out of the quarantine barracks to the bathhouse, beaten on the street.

Construction was going on nearby, people were carrying window frames on carts.

Prisoners, but dressed as ordinary laborers.

And now we are walking between two buildings, a kind of gate.

We turn left - and suddenly I see a stadium covered with sand.

And the boys drive the ball on it.

With some crazy speed.

As if they have some kind of battery inside.

I have never seen such speeds in normal life.

Maybe people spend so much time behind bars that they run so fast.

I don't know."

According to Oleg, the football stadium in the colony is very different from the one you can see in free life.

This is a rectangular area filled with rammed sand.

Fenced around the perimeter.

There is also a trodden path around the perimeter, where those willing to run, including during football matches.

"On the other side of the stadium stands are organized," recalls Oleg.

- There, the prisoners stood and cheered for the teams.

The fans are all in black.

Of course, no one screams, there is no such thing.

But there are whistles or shouts.

At the same time, the guards are not visible.

The stadium itself is surrounded by a high fence made of metal mesh.

The guards let the players and fans in there and do not go any further.

Watching from the outside.

The stadium is slightly smaller than a regular football stadium, but it is big.

The gates are also smaller.

It's a cross between a hockey field and a regular football stadium."

Shklov, correctional colony #17.

Stadium.

Photo: Google Maps

"It's like you forget about prison for a moment"

As Oleg says, prisoners usually play football in sports uniforms - t-shirts, shorts and shoes.

At the same time, it is forbidden to have such things with you during the "settlement" in the colony.

All this is later passed on to the prisoners by their relatives during meetings.

"Someone plays even in sports pants when it's cold," says the former political prisoner.

- Sneakers on his feet.

I was very interested to see all this, of course.

As if for a moment you forgot about the prison and found yourself in a normal life.

After that, I was sent back to quarantine, and from there I was sent to SHIZA.

And now I'm leaving there with my huge mattress, a man leads me to the squad.

And it turned out that my 9th squad is right in front of the stadium.

And there again the prisoners are running and playing.

It was like they were playing football all the time.

And that's almost how it happens."

According to the former political prisoner, football is so popular behind bars that the colony even holds its own championship, which lasts for several summer months.

Each unit has its own team, and there were about twenty of them in Oleg's colony.

Only the inmates from the so-called "pensioner" detachment, where the elderly prisoners were gathered, did not play.

"Football is the second most popular sport in the colony after trainers," says Oleg Gruzdylovich.

- There are home-made trainers near each unit.

And only football fans come to the stadium.

On weekends, the stadium is busy all the time.

Some teams come, others leave.

They make a schedule.

On a weekday, too, when the work is finished.

They end around 2:00 p.m., sometimes earlier, then the prisoners immediately go to play or cheer."

"During the colony championship, prisoners are even allowed to wear colored uniforms"

Oleg says that the administration of the colony even welcomes the prisoners' passion for football, because then they are busy with something and do not sit in squads doing nothing.

People try to sign up for the stadium almost en masse, but not everyone succeeds.

"I went to the head of the squad with a statement, but he told me no, that I would "crowd around and create all kinds of cells," Oleg recalls.

- I was ordered to sit in the squad.

And the championship of the colony just started."

According to the former political prisoner, for the championship, the prisoners were allowed to have something like a uniform.

Usually, prisoners are not allowed to wear bright or colored clothes.

Only dark and gray.

But this does not apply to football.

"I was surprised to see that the boys come to the stadium, change their clothes - and they have everything colorful," says Oleg.

- It turns out that you can play football.

Prisoners receive all this either in parcels or on meetings.

Somehow they manage to have.

As a result, one team runs in red T-shirts, the other in white.

And bottoms, gaiters - who knows what.

I don't remember the numbers on the backs.

The team is usually 6-7 people.

There are no shoes, ordinary sneakers.

Replacements also happen differently.

A man ran and is resting, someone else has taken his place.

Then they change again."

According to Oleg, specially selected referees, also from among prisoners, keep order at the matches.

They even have whistles.

There is also a scoreboard on which the number is posted.

During the championship, both players and spectators sign up to visit the stadium at a certain time.

But there is no special security at the entrance to the stadium in the colony.

Veina, correctional colony No. 15. Stadium.

Photo: Google Maps

"People behind bars cheer more loyally, more emotionally"

According to Oleg, in each team at the championship of the colony, it was possible to single out 2-3 people who played at a higher level than others.

"Each team has its own balls, they are kept by the captain," recalls Oleg.

- In the detachment, I just got into the room where the captain of our team lived.

The swords were kept in a closet.

And formally, it is forbidden to keep it.

They check the lists regularly.

Bedside tables, cabinets.

There are unscheduled supervisors on weekends periodically.

Everything is checked.

But no one touches soccer balls.

They don't stick to sportswear either."

The former political prisoner also says that football matches in the colony differ from games in freedom also in terms of vocabulary.

The use of mats is strictly prohibited behind bars, although prisoners often circumvent this rule.

Using words that shamefully describe persons of non-traditional sexual orientation, which often happens in stadiums around the world, is strictly prohibited in colonies.

Such an act can have the most tragic consequences.

"If you say that, you will be responsible for your words," says Oleg.

- Of course, the prisoners-football players and the spectators express their emotions.

In general, it seemed to me that people cheer there more devotedly, more emotionally.

When the team from our squad made it to the finals, some of the prisoners went to the stadium, and some watched the game just from the window.

20 people crowded there.

It was already difficult for them to watch.

I was in my room then and even from there I knew exactly about the events of the game.

The whole body is shaking.

In the final, our team won.

It is interesting that when the controllers entered the squad, they did not touch the fans, did not drive them away.

During football matches, the usual prison life seemed to stop, there was a bit of normality in us."

"Noticed a good player in our team, he turned out to be a former midfielder of the "Ravens"

Oleg also says that there are no conflicts between fans of different teams in the colony, as well as between football players.

Guards watch this very closely, in case of any acute situation, people are separated into different detachments.

"The championship in our colony lasted quite a long time," recalls Oleg.

- I remember the meetings of prisoners: the head of the squad announced at them how many fines we have and how many incentives.

It reports like this - what is in production, what is in our culture.

And football achievements were also announced - and what other meetings we have, and what intermediate achievements, and finally we reached the final and we won.

I watched this game.

But even earlier I noticed that there is one very good football player in our squad.

And it turned out that this is a former player of "Krumkachiv".

The former professional football player was imprisoned in 2018, he was convicted under the "narcotics" article 328.

Oleg says that as a result of the victory in the championship of the colony, the former football player was allowed to continue serving his sentence in "chemistry".

"I don't know for sure whether it was the result of our victory or whether it was just the right time for him," says Oleg.

- Because if two-thirds of the term has passed, they can be transferred if there are no fines and there are incentives.

But, most likely, it was related to the championship, because it was transferred 2-3 days after the final.

We have a winner's cup left in the squad, this guy left it for us.

Such a typical sports vase.

They put it on the shelf in the unit."

Oleg also says that the prison guard or the officers responsible for the squad are not interested in prisoners' football.

At least he didn't notice them rooting for anyone.

But they treat the "football players" in a friendly way, during the games they follow the events in the stadium.

"They don't watch football on TV in the colonies"

Oleg says that hardly any of the prisoners now have the opportunity to watch the world championship in Qatar.

Some information about these matches may reach the colony from relatives.

Perhaps from BT news, if there is something to tell about the results of the games.

There is no other information.

"There is generally a strange relationship to sports on TV," says the former political prisoner.

- In any detachment, as a rule, half are young people.

And the other half are middle-aged people.

And they have very different tastes when it comes to watching TV.

And he is the same.

Usually those who are the majority grab the TV.

I never got to watch football.

Even if it was possible to turn it on for five minutes, someone was sitting there, some kind of prisoner, who would switch it on.

Will find some stupid movie and watch it.

Usually, for some reason, those who are sitting under Article 328 are captured.

Such an audience."

According to the ex-political prisoner, he had a somewhat positive impression from football behind bars.

Oleg says that he felt a real and sincere interest in this sport there.

"Behind the bars, playing football is also participation in the social life of the colony, the unit," says the former political prisoner.

— For this, the prisoners receive incentives from the management.

This is considered a plus.

There are not only fines there - there is a whole system of such things that seems to re-educate a person.

For many people, it is important to have incentives.

Losing teams get them too.

But I will say that people behind bars don't play football for that.

Play to get pleasure.

It's such pure football.

Not for money, not for anything, just for myself, for the feeling of freedom."