By David Owen
November 25 – Their reign at the top could not quite match the 25 years – and counting – of Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s president. Nonetheless, BATE Borisov’s dethroning on Sunday as national champions of Belarus very much qualifies as ‘the end of an era’.
Dinamo Brest’s home win over Vitebsk by a solitary goal gave them an unassailable lead at the head of the league table, rendering BATE’s 3-0 demolition of Dinamo Minsk academic.
The combination of results means that Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics’s run of consecutive national titles has been brought to an end at thirteen, stretching back to 2006.
According to UEFA, this is just one short of the European record for winning national championship streaks. This stands at fourteen, held jointly by Latvia’s Skonto Riga and Lincoln of Gibraltar. The world record is thought to be held by Tafea of Vanuatu with fifteen straight titles between 1994 and 2009.
Brest is probably best known outside Belarus for announcing the appointment of Diego Maradona as chairman in 2018. The Argentinian duly congratulated the club on their title via Instagram.
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