Players of hockey club Shakhtyor declare boycott

Belaruskali, the club's general sponsor, has no money to support it.

Shakhtyor are going to boycott a match with Vitebsk in the national championship. The statement was made by chief coach Andrei Husau at a press conference after a home match with Navapolatsk-based Khimik-SKA (1-3), the club's press service reports.

“I don't know how to enter the locker room and what to tell the guys. I am simply tired. I want to cry sometimes, because I am unable to change the situation. Players have practice sessions and play, but they don't think about hockey. They have just one thought – how to feed their families.

I don't know whom I should address. The captain and assistant captains have just come to me and said the team will not play the game with Vitebsk. It's unbearable to work under such conditions. It's far from professional sport. It's far from professionalism. The guys fight. When I enter the changing room and look at them sitting in bandages, with ice on bruises, without teeth, I want to cry,” he said.

Belaruskali is the general sponsor of HC Shakhtyor. The team is ranked seventh with 19 points after 15 games out of ten participants of the championship.