Alyaksandr Saladukha confessed his love for a non-top Belarusian football club
Over the weekend, photos of the singer wearing an FC Baranavichy scarf – a debutant in the Belarusian Premier League – went viral on sports websites. He was seen watching the first-round match of the national championship against Isloch.
Betnews.by contacted the Honored Artist and found out what made the club, which for the first time in its history entered the Premier League, capture his heart.
— It's very simple: the village of Palanechka, Baranavichy district, is the birthplace of my father, Anton Maksimovich Saladukha. He was a military man, serving in both Russia and Kazakhstan. But every summer during his vacation, we would come to Palanechka. We spent part of our vacation there, and part at my mother's homeland in Kapyl district. (...) My uncle lived very close to the Lokomotiv stadium, and as a child, I used to play football on that stadium. After Kazakhstan, this was unusual for me — back then, the grass on the field didn't grow well there.
When I found out at the end of last year that Baranavichy had entered the Premier League for the first time, I was overjoyed. I found the contact of the club director, Ivan Iharavich Krutau, myself and got in touch. And since they played their first match against Isloch, I rushed to Minsk for the game to support the team.
Ivan met me, we talked, and he gave me a club scarf. We went to the field and watched the team warm up. Then I went to watch the game from the Baranavichy fan sector with my driver.
I repeat: this is very important to me because Baranavichy is my father's homeland. People are already starting to write on the internet that last year I took a photo with a Torpedo Zhodino scarf, and now with Baranavichy merchandise.
At the end of last year, I was indeed at the match of Zhodino's Torpedo (against Isloch). I performed there. But then Betera (actually Fonbet — Nasha Niva) invited me, and I received my fee. That's my job.
But I support Baranavichy out of passion! And on April 11, I will definitely go to their first home match against the Belarusian champion "ML" at the Lokomotiv stadium, which I've known since childhood!
— Are you considering performing at Baranavichy's home game?
— I want to propose this option to the club director. Generally, I performed a solo concert at the Lokomotiv stadium on May 20, 2012, and it was a sold-out show.
— Do you generally follow football?
— Yes, when possible. I know that our national team, led by Viktar Hancharenka, flew to Cyprus for a friendly match. It just so happens that the doctor I'm treated by was invited to fly with the national team.
And when I was a child living in Kazakhstan, I supported Dinamo Minsk, which was coached by Eduard Malofeyev. And you can't imagine my excitement when I transferred from Karaganda to a medical institute in Minsk and first went to a Dinamo match.
It was in 1979. I climbed up above the stadium dome, and it was full of people. The stadium capacity was 45 thousand. Pudyshaw, Prakapenka, Kurnenin, Verheenko in goal were playing... I was thrilled! I was only 20 years old, and before that, I had only read about all of this in magazines.
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By the way, Baranavichy lost to Isloch 0:2, the game took place at FC Minsk stadium. In the second round, the club will play against the somewhat more stellar BATE in Barysaw on April 5.