From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 2027
$330.0K from Vitebsk for Dmitriy Sibilev. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
Niva sell a favourite for $330.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Dmitriy Sibilev was one of the reasons people came, and $330.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Torpedo-BelAZ have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Lokomotiv Gomel: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Maxim Mardas asks for a word with the manager
“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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexandr Chizh is on it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Ruslan Belov gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ruslan Belov has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Niva will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
Roman Kozel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niva can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
$5.0K on the table at Osipovichi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Niva
Andrey Emeljanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Anton Savitski has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Rabeshko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
BATE have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Isloch have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Grin
“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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Maxim Mardas knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Niva say no — this time
The offer from Vitebsk for Dmitriy Sibilev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Dmitriy Sibilev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Niva
Andrey Emeljanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stepan Sokolovskiy and Niva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market1 Feb 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Minsk have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 97% of the Niva income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Nobody at Niva will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Roman Kozel knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Kozel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market25 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitriy Sibilev signs something — a contract at Niva or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
The stands have heard the Dmitriy Sibilev talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Niva would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market18 Jan 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Market18 Jan 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandr Pivovarchik commits to Niva for another 3 years.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Kislyak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexandr Chizh is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
Roman Kozel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niva can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Niva
Uladzimir Kavalyou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Martysevich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market11 Jan 2027
Hleb Rios steps up from the Niva academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hleb Rios has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niva, another week without a signature from Andrey Emeljanov.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Andrey Emeljanov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The formation has left Maxim Mardas behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Niva will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market4 Jan 2027
Maxim Mardas is 20, and Niva have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Andrey Emeljanov asks for a word with the manager
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niva. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Voronovich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kuratnik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 100% of the Niva income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Artem Kuratnik knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artem Kuratnik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mikhail Gordeychuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market21 Dec 2026
Alexandr Iljin is 20, and Niva have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market21 Dec 2026
The clock does Mikhail Gordeychuk’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Niva could ask drops and the wages Mikhail Gordeychuk can ask rise.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dzmitry Filipenko, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market21 Dec 2026
The shop window has Roman Kozel in it
Niva have let the market know Roman Kozel can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Artem Kuratnik
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Kuratnik will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Andrey Emeljanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stanislau Kavalyou has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Dec 2026
One of our own: Yan Arlouski joins the Niva first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yan Arlouski is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Stepan Asharin
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niva, another week without a signature from Artem Kuratnik.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Roman Kozel knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Kozel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikhail Gordeychuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Chizh and Niva agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ilya Rabeshko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niva, another week without a signature from Mikhail Gordeychuk.
Market7 Dec 2026
Nikita Paderin is 20, and Niva have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Niva will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Dmitriy Galuza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitriy Galuza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout30 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 97% of everything Niva earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market30 Nov 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Nobody at Niva will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Galuza and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikhail Gordeychuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Alexandr Chizh has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Niva will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrey Emeljanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Niva have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Artem Kuratnik has agreed terms with Dinamo Brest for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Rabeshko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikhail Gordeychuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Uladzimir Kavalyou has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Uladzislau Yablonski is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Galuza has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Niva: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mikhail Gordeychuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Grin, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 97% of everything Niva earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Nikita Karpuk knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market2 Nov 2026
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Niva could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Niva can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladimir Skomarovskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Sidorovich, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kuratnik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Niva are still strangers to each other
18 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market26 Oct 2026
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes Alexandr Grin a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niva. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Gordeychuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Oct 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niva. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market19 Oct 2026
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Niva may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Gordeychuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Anton Kislyak has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Niva could get for him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niva. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Dmitriy Galuza has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Kuratnik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Grin
“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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 98% of the Niva income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Niva will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Oct 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 Niva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clock does Dmitriy Galuza’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Niva could ask drops and the wages Dmitriy Galuza can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Evgeniy Mashagin has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Mikhail Gordeychuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evgeniy Mashagin, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Niva
18 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexandr Chizh is on it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alexandr Voronovich has agreed terms with Volna Pinsk for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Dmitriy Galuza asks for a word with the manager
“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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Niva have no good answer.
Market21 Sep 2026
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
Market21 Sep 2026
Niva spent the window trying to move Stepan Asharin on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Niva close the window on a squad of their own making
25 in and 11 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mikhail Gordeychuk has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dzmitry Filipenko has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Kuratnik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Roman Kozel knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Kozel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Galuza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Gordeychuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Niva asked and Minsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nikita Dovnar makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Roman Kozel asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout7 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Niva could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Niva
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mikhail Gordeychuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout31 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Niva are still strangers to each other
17 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan move for Prokhor Struk is in the works
Niva have made the call to Minsk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Roman Sidorovich
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Igor Monich has gone, the accounts have $61.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Niva's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Niva has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
Business is business: Igor Monich goes
Dinamo Brest paid $61.0K and Niva took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Niva asked and Vitebsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match22 Aug 2026
Niva caught on 95 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Slonim scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Ruslan Belov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Niva
1‑3 against Gomel, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Niva have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vladislav Stepanenko did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Alexandr Chizh pops up at the right end — 7.74
7.74, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Niva
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Niva are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market10 Aug 2026
Baranovichi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Niva did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Dnepr Mogilev, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Igor Monich has agreed to leave Niva for nothing
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Market10 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Ruslan Belov is back at Niva, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Neman wanted more than $170.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Gomel have kept their man, and Niva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitriy Sibilev and Niva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mikhail Gordeychuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout3 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
A point taken on 97 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Niva are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Volna Pinsk have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.