Belarus national team did not “sell” matches to Czechia and Moldova …?

The head of the Council of the Federation of Football Henadz Nyavyhlas informed about it. The chief witness, a former goalkeeper Henadz Tumilovich, says the same. Will the investigators also change their opinion about this case?
The former goalkeeper Valery Shantalosau offered to send documents proving his innocence to the editorial staff of ERB during the interview. Let us remind you that the case concerns two matches of the national team of Belarus in the selection tour of Europe-2004 Championship. Belarusian players were defeated by Czechia and Moldova.

The investigation claims that the matches were “bought”. The criminal case was started according to art. 253 “Subornation of participants and organizers of sports competitions”. The person suspected of offering players money for their defeat is Valery Shantalosau. However, after the statement made by Henadz Nyavyhlas who claimed that there was “no subornation” and the talk was only about an attempt to do it, investigators and witnesses started saying that the fact that the matches were sold could not be proved. But the charges against the goalkeeper have not been dismissed.

The documents sent to the editorial staff of ERB are player’s appeals. They confirm that Shantalosau has never asked them to be defeated with a certain score. There are 9 appeals. According to Shantalosau, Ramashchanka and Kulshchy were in Moscow when he was collecting signatures but they can present their appeals at any time. There is also Henadz Tumilovich but the ex-goalkeeper has never asked him for a signature. The thing is that Tumilovich is the chief witness in this notorious case.

ERB asked Henadz Tumilovich if his former colleague asked him for a signature in his support.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “Why couldn’t the guys write those appeals? He did not offer them anything, so they just wrote about it. He didn’t ask me for a signature. We will talk about it if he does it. But he needs to ask for it first”.


Speaking about the investigation, the football player said he gave evidence only once and was not going to do it again.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “I visited the invesigator once. I’m not going to give any more evidence or participate in it”.

Tumіlovіch refused to admit that the audio records presented by the editor-in-chief of “Pressball” Uladzimir Berazhkou had been made by him. The player says he has never made them and hasn’t even listened to them.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “I have never even listened to the record containing a talk with Shantalosau. I only read the text at the investigator’s office. It had been written down after an expertise”.

Henadz Tumіlovіch did not want to talk about the 40 thousand USD that was thought to have been offered to players for their defeat. However, he did not refute that there was such a conversation. Valery Shantalosau called the record an anonymous letter he didn’t even want to talk about.

Valery Shantalosau: “There is nothing said about it there. All lawyers say that they should clearly offer something: “Hena, take 20 thousands and this and that”.

However, Uladzimir Berazhkou keeps saying that the record contains incontrovertible evidence of “match trade”.

Uladzimir Berazhkou: “The talk is about 40 thousand dollars. There are also other sums of money mentioned there, not only 40 thousands. They talk about 10 and 20 thousand USD Shantalosau gained from those deals here in Minsk. He was said to have been a go-between and earned 20 thousand USD for it. His put the money in his pocket. There are many sums pronounced aloud”.

However, nobody has phoned Shantalosau in spite of the fact that the investigators have got his cell phone number today.

Tumilovoch confessed to ERB that he did not understand anything in the case started by the police.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “I am so much confused that I don’t even understand how it started. It is hard to predict what it will lead to”.

The player flatly refuted the fact that the matches Belarus-Maldova and Belarus- Czechia were sold. That was the way the game ended. At the same time, he confirmed that there were a lot of “sold” matches in the Belarusian football practice.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “It is very common in all divisions”.

He added that it was like that long time ago too. But his words about the problems of the modern football have nothing to do with “match trade”.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “When I say that there are many problems in Belarusian football it doesn’t mean that we have “buyers” everywhere. I’m not going to explain anything to those dim-wits”.



When ERB asked him if he had ever seen full-backs letting the other team’s forwards approach him he admitted he had. But he has never accused anyone.

Henadz Tumіlovіch: “To claim it you should have good evidence”.

Uladzimir Berazhkou thinks that players could not refuse to write appeals in support of Shantalosau especially if they were guilty too.

Uladzimir Berazhkou: “Do you really think that a person who was bribed would admit it?”