From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Nov 2027
Vadim Yakovlev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Naftan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market8 Nov 2027
The name of Artem Drabatovich keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Naftan say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A new face in his position, and Vladan Elesin suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Naftan have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market8 Nov 2027
No fee and no drama: Luka Kakulia has signed at Naftan, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Vadim Yakovlev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market11 Oct 2027
The name of Artem Drabatovich keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Naftan say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Artem Drabatovich joins up with his country. Naftan lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jun 2027
7 matches without a win for Naftan
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Naftan are no longer polite ones.
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match26 Jun 2027
Slavia Mozyr left with the points after a 1-2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Jun 2027
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market28 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Naftan will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Naftan can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Jun 2027
5 matches without a win for Naftan
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Naftan are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vadim Yakovlev commits to Naftan for another 4 years.
Match12 Jun 2027
1-1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Naftan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Naftan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naftan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Naftan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market23 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naftan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Vadim Yakovlev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Naftan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naftan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Andrey Lebedev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Naftan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naftan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Naftan can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naftan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Dmitriy Latykhov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match26 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Naftan
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match26 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Molodechno defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Naftan can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naftan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match29 Aug 2026
Naftan get the job done against Neman
A 1-0 win over Neman, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Naftan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad31 Aug 2026
At 29 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Naftan are won quietly and lost loudly.