Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Monday will take place on neutral ground in Hungary – but the Tartan Army will not be there to see it.
The match will be played in the ZTE Arena in the Hungarian city of Zalaegerszeg.
So why are Belarus banned from staging home matches in their own country?
Uefa sanction
Because Belarus has been supportive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there were calls for a ban on their teams competing in Uefa competitions, as has been the case for all senior Russian teams since March 2022.
In March of that year, Uefa announced all Belarusian clubs and national teams participating in its competitions would have to play their home matches at neutral venues and behind closed doors with no fans.
Why Hungary?
After the Uefa sanction was imposed, it was up to the Football Federation of Belarus to find a suitable stadium to host the matches. They chose Zalaegerszeg – about 227km from the Hungarian capital Budapest.
The ZTE Arena will also host the World Cup qualifier between Belarus and Denmark in October, though the venue for Belarus v Greece in November is yet to be confirmed.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said playing at the ZTE Arena had “the feel of a fixture played during Covid” and because “there was no crowd it maybe lacked a little bit of intensity that there would normally have been”.
Scotland drew 0-0 with Belarus in Minsk in 2005
Tartan Army reaction
The shutout of fans in Zalaegerszeg means the Tartan Army will only be able to follow their team in two away matches during the World Cup qualifying campaign – the group opener against Denmark in Copenhagen on 5 September and the penultimate match against Greece on 15 November.
“It’s almost like the Scotland fans have been punished in some way,” said John Bleasdale of The Tartan Army Magazine.
“But you could argue that the Belarusian fans have been punished for something outside their control as well.
“It’s a real difficult situation where the fans have to lose, unfortunately.”
How can I watch Belarus v Scotland?
Belarus v Scotland will be televised and streamed on BBC iPlayer on BBC One Scotland from 19:30 BST.
Live radio commentary will begin on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds from 19:40 BST, with Gaelic commentary of Scotland’s home games also available on BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal.
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