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Belarusian Premier League

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Belarusian Premier League
Founded1992; 34 years ago (1992)
CountryBelarus
ConfederationUEFA
Number of clubs16
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toBelarusian First League
Domestic cup(s)Belarusian Cup
Belarusian Super Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Conference League
Current championsMaxline Vitebsk (1st title)
(2025)
Most championshipsBATE Borisov (15 titles)
Top scorerRaman Vasilyuk (218 goals)
Broadcaster(s)Belarus 5
Websiteabff.by
Current: 2026 Belarusian Premier League

The Belarusian Premier League (Belarusian: Вышэйшая ліга, Vyšejšaja Liha or Vysheyshaya Liga; Russian: Высшая лига; "Top League"), also called the BETERA Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Belarus and the highest level of the Belarusian football league system. It is organized by the Belarusian Football Federation. The number of teams in the competition has varied over the years from as high as 17 (1992–93 season) to as low as 11 (2012). As of 2025, the league included 16 teams. Each team plays every other team twice during the course of the season. At the end of the season, the two teams with the fewest points are automatically relegated to the Belarusian First League, while the third worst team plays a promotion-relegation playoff against the third best team from the second tier. The top two teams from the Belarusian First League automatically win promotion to the Premier League. Maxline Vitebsk are the current champions, after winning their first championship title in 2025.

History

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The Belarusian Premier League was organized in 1992. The first participants were: Dinamo Minsk, the only Belarusian side in the former Soviet Top League, five teams from the lower tiers of the Soviet league system and represented other five regional centers of Belarus, and ten teams who were previous competitors in the Belarusian SSR First League.

After the league creation, it was decided to change its schedule from a Soviet-style summer season to a European-style winter season. In 1995, the winter season experiment was proven unsuccessful due to poor weather and field conditions in Belarus in the late autumn and early spring. The season was changed back to summer. Every season since 1996 has been played in the summer. Throughout the 2000s, the number of competing teams has changed several times. 2012 season was played with only 11 teams due to last minute withdrawal of Partizan Minsk.

In its earliest years, the league was dominated by Dinamo Minsk, who won the league five times in a row between 1992 and 1995. During the next ten seasons, seven different teams finished as champions: Slavia Mozyr (1996 as MPKC Mozyr, 2000), Dinamo Minsk (1997, 2004), Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev (1998), BATE Borisov (1999, 2002), Belshina Bobruisk (2001), Gomel (2003), Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2005). Since 2006, BATE Borisov has dominated the league, winning 13 championships in a row (2006–2018).

In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the other football leagues in Europe were postponed, and by the end of the month, the Belarusian Premier League was the only top-flight league in the continent that was still playing.[1] Due to this, the league gained substantially increased viewership from abroad, with fans from all over the world watching the games online, due to the league being the only significant professional football available; the league signed new television rights deals with networks from countries including Russia and India.[2][3] Matches were also streamed on the Belarusian Football Federation's YouTube channel.[4] British betting companies also offered odds for the various matches,[clarification needed] as the league's profile, previously relatively unknown outside of the country, grew a larger audience due to sporting inactivity elsewhere.[5][6]

Premier League in 2025

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Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 2024
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk City Stadium 1,000 10th
BATE Borisov Borisov Arena 13,126 8th
Dinamo Brest Brest OSK Brestsky 10,169 4th
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Dinamo Stadium 22,000 1st
Gomel Gomel Central Stadium 14,307 6th
Isloch Minsk FC Minsk Stadium 3,000 7th
Maxline Vitebsk Vitebsk Vitebsky CSK 8,144 2nd (First League)
Minsk Minsk FC Minsk Stadium 3,000 13th
Molodechno Molodechno City Stadium 4,800 1st (First League)
Naftan Novopolotsk Atlant Stadium 5,300 14th
Neman Grodno Neman Stadium 8,479 2nd
Slavia Mozyr Yunost Stadium 5,300 11th
Slutsk Slutsk City Stadium 1,896 9th
Smorgon Smorgon Yunost Stadium 3,200 12th
Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Torpedo Stadium 6,524 3rd
Vitebsk Vitebsk Vitebsky CSK 8,144 5th

Soviet era champions

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Champions and top scorers

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Season Champion Runner-up Third place Top scorer
Dinamo Minsk (1) Dnepr Mogilev Dinamo Brest Belarus Andrey Skorobogatko (Dnepr Mogilev) (11)
Dinamo Minsk (2) KIM Vitebsk Belarus Minsk Belarus Sergey Baranovsky (Dinamo Minsk) (19)
Belarus Miroslav Romaschenko (Vedrich Rechitsa / Dnepr Mogilev) (19)
Dinamo Minsk (3) Dinamo-93 Minsk KIM Vitebsk Belarus Pyotr Kachuro (Dinamo-93 Minsk / Dinamo Minsk) (21)
Dinamo Minsk (4) Dvina Vitebsk Dinamo-93 Minsk Belarus Pavel Shavrov (Dinamo-93 Minsk) (19)
Dinamo Minsk (5) MPKC Mozyr Dinamo-93 Minsk Belarus Sergey Yaromko (MPKC Mozyr) (16)
MPKC Mozyr (1) Dinamo Minsk Belshina Bobruisk Belarus Andrey Khlebasolaw (Belshina Bobruisk) (34)
Dinamo Minsk (6) Belshina Bobruisk Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk Belarus Andrey Khlebasolaw (Belshina Bobruisk) (19)
Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev (1) BATE Borisov Belshina Bobruisk Belarus Sergey Yaromko (Torpedo Minsk) (19)
BATE Borisov (1) Slavia Mozyr Gomel Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Slavia Mozyr) (21)
Slavia Mozyr (2) BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Belarus Raman Vasilyuk (Slavia Mozyr) (31)
Belshina Bobruisk (1) Dinamo Minsk BATE Borisov Russia Sergei Davydov (Neman-Belcard Grodno) (25)
BATE Borisov (2) Neman Grodno Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Belshina Bobruisk) (18)
Gomel (1) BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Belarus Gennadi Bliznyuk (Gomel) (18)
Belarus Sergei Kornilenko (Dinamo Minsk) (18)
Dinamo Minsk (7) BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Naftan Novopolotsk) (18)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (1) Dinamo Minsk MTZ-RIPO Minsk Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Naftan Novopolotsk) (16)
BATE Borisov (3) Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Alyaksandr Klimenka (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (17)
BATE Borisov (4) Gomel Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Raman Vasilyuk (Gomel) (24)
BATE Borisov (5) Dinamo Minsk MTZ-RIPO Minsk Belarus Gennadi Bliznyuk (BATE Borisov) (16)
Belarus Vitali Rodionov (BATE Borisov) (16)
BATE Borisov (6) Dinamo Minsk Dnepr Mogilev Brazil Maycon (Gomel) (15)
BATE Borisov (7) Shakhtyor Soligorsk Minsk Brazil Renan Bressan (BATE Borisov) (15)
BATE Borisov (8) Shakhtyor Soligorsk Gomel Brazil Renan Bressan (BATE Borisov) (13)
BATE Borisov (9) Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Dzmitry Asipenka (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (14)
BATE Borisov (10) Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Vitali Rodionov (BATE Borisov) (14)
BATE Borisov (11) Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Mikalay Yanush (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (15)
BATE Borisov (12) Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Mikalay Yanush (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (15)
BATE Borisov (13) Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Vitali Rodionov (BATE Borisov) (16)
Belarus Mikhail Gordeichuk (BATE Borisov) (16)
BATE Borisov (14) Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Mikhail Gordeichuk (BATE Borisov) (18)
BATE Borisov (15) Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Pavel Savitski (Dinamo Brest) (15)
Dynamo Brest (1) BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Ilya Shkurin (Energetik-BGU Minsk) (19)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2) BATE Borisov Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Belarus Maksim Skavysh (BATE Borisov) (19)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (3) BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk The Gambia Dembo Darboe (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (19)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Energetik-BGU Minsk BATE Borisov Uzbekistan Bobur Abdikholikov (Energetik-BGU Minsk) (26)
Dinamo Minsk (8) Neman Grodno Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Belarus Vladislav Morozov (Dinamo Minsk) (16)
Dinamo Minsk (9) Neman Grodno Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Gabon Junior Effaghe (Gomel) (17)
Maxline Vitebsk (1) Dinamo Minsk Slavia Mozyr Belarus Aleksandr Shestyuk (Isloch) (17)

Performances

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Performance by club

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Teams Champion Runner-up Third place
BATE Borisov 15 (1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) 7 (1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2019, 2020, 2021) 2 (2001, 2022)
Dinamo Minsk 9 (1992, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2023, 2024) 10 (1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2025) 7 (2000, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 3 (2005, 2020, 2021) 6 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018) 8 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Slavia Mozyr 2 (1996, 2000) 2 (1995, 1999) 1 (2025)
Gomel 1 (2003) 1 (2007) 2 (1999, 2011)
Belshina Bobruisk 1 (2001) 1 (1997) 2 (1996, 1998)
Dnepr Mogilev 1 (1998) 1 (1992) 1 (2009)
Dynamo Brest 1 (2019) – 1 (1992)
Maxline Vitebsk 1 (2025) – –
Neman Grodno – 3 (2002, 2023, 2024) –
Vitebsk – 2 (1992–93, 1994–95) 2 (1993–94, 1997)
Dinamo-93 Minsk – 1 (1993–94) 3 (1992–93, 1994–95, 1995)
Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino – – 3 (2020, 2023, 2024)
Partizan Minsk – – 2 (2005, 2008)
Minsk – – 1 (2010)

All-time table

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As of end of 2023 season.
Club1 Seasons Debut Last
Season		 Pld2 W D L Goals Points3 Best Result
Dinamo Minsk 331992—9395602021771701–79418821st (1992, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2023, 2024)
BATE Borisov 261998—7584961571051493–59816451st (1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 331992—9394672222521413–92115781st (2005, 2020, 2021)(2022)
Neman Grodno 331992—9403492433481080–111512902nd (2002, 2023)
Dinamo Brest 331992—9393332323741179–123512311st (2019)
Gomel 271992—7392901672821043–92910371st (2003)
Vitebsk 2719922022761271201289859–93310142nd (1992–93, 1994–95)
Dnepr Mogilev 2619922022737264179284934–9629711st (1998)
Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino 241992—689260182247822–7899623rd (2020, 2023)
Belshina Bobruisk 231993–942023666233151282876–9528391st (2001)
Slavia Mozyr 211995—596217143246826–8787641st (1996, 2000)
Naftan Novopolotsk 221996—643196136311744–10027194th (2009)
Minsk 162007—474161121191566–6096053rd (2010)
Torpedo Minsk 1519922019428158115155481–4755894th (2002, 2003)
Dinamo-93 Minsk 71992–931998181994339296–1573402nd (1993–94)
Slutsk 102014—2938674133284–3943327th (2017)
Isloch Minsk Raion 82016—236925391292–3133294th (2023)
Molodechno-2000 12199220033238080163339–4903204th (1994–95)
Partizan Minsk 720042010198804276288–2812823rd (2005, 2008)
Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev 10199220002716476131266–4442687th (1992)
Energetik-BGU Minsk 9200220232587158129305–4512482nd (2022)
Gorodeya 520162020149445055162–1841827th (2019)
Vedrich-97 Rechitsa 8199220012084644118167–3271828th (1992)
Darida Minsk Raion 620032008168443886165–2521708th (2006)
Bobruisk 519921995122443444119–1451664th (1992)
Lida 719922000182384698144–2891608th (1994–95)
Granit Mikashevichi 420082016112313546112–1611285th (2015)
Smorgon 52007—139283873112–2391248th (2008)
Ataka Minsk 3199519977529163086–931034th (1995)
Rukh Brest 22020202159262112106–66995th (2021)
Lokomotiv Minsk 420032008112232564100–1879411th (2005)
Lokomotiv Vitebsk 419921994–9510722275882–1819310th (1993–94)
Kommunalnik Slonim 3199720008915175766–1916211th (1997)
Stroitel Starye Dorogi 319921993–947714184548–1176014th (1992, 1992–93)
Krumkachy Minsk 2201620176014163050–865811th (2016)
Smolevichi 220182020598143748–1113815th (2018)
Transmash Mogilev 11997199730841830–522814th (1997)
Dnyapro Mogilev 12019201929761629–422514th (2019)
Luch Minsk 120182018304121424–442413th (2018)
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk 12022202230581718–422314th (2022)
Savit Mogilev 12008200830561928–612115th (2008)
Svisloch-Krovlya Osipovichi 11999199930442224–741615th (1999)
Sputnik Rechitsa 12021202115211212–37716th (2021)
  1. For clubs that have been renamed, their name at the time of their most recent season in the Premier League is given. The current members are listed in bold.
  2. Includes 2002 championship play-off, 2004 relegation play-off, 14 games of Dinamo-93 in 1998 season, 15 games of Torpedo Minsk in 2019 season, and 15 games of Sputnik Rechitsa in 2021 season.
  3. For the purposes of this table, each win is worth 3 points. The three-points system was adopted in fall 1995 season.

Player of the year

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Belarusian Premier League Player of the year is an annual award given by a sports newspaper Pressball.

Season Player Club
1992
 Belarus Valyantsin Byalkevich Dinamo Minsk
1992–93
 Belarus Sergey Gotsmanov Dinamo Minsk
1993–94
 Belarus Yury Shukanov Dinamo Minsk
1994–95
 Belarus Valyantsin Byalkevich Dinamo Minsk
1995
 Belarus Valyantsin Byalkevich Dinamo Minsk
1996
 Belarus Alyaksandr Kulchy MPKC Mozyr
1997
 Belarus Andrei Lavrik Dinamo Minsk
1998
 Russia Oleg Kononov Torpedo Minsk
1999
 Russia Dmitri Karsakov Slavia Mozyr
2000
 Belarus Aleksandr Lisovskiy BATE Borisov
2001
 Belarus Vitali Kutuzov BATE Borisov
2002
 Belarus Dzmitry Likhtarovich BATE Borisov
2003
 Belarus Timofei Kalachev Shakhtyor Soligorsk
2004
 Belarus Andrey Razin Dinamo Minsk
2005
 Belarus Vital Valadzyankow Dinamo Minsk
2006
 Belarus Oleg Strakhanovich MTZ-RIPO Minsk
2007
 Belarus Raman Vasilyuk Gomel
2008
 Belarus Vitali Rodionov BATE Borisov
2009
 Belarus Sergey Krivets BATE Borisov
2010
 Brazil Renan Bressan BATE Borisov
2011
 Brazil Renan Bressan BATE Borisov
2012
 Belarus Stanislaw Drahun Dinamo Minsk
2013
 Belarus Alexander Hleb BATE Borisov
2014
 Belarus Ihar Stasevich Dinamo Minsk
2015
 Belarus Ihar Stasevich BATE Borisov
2016
 Belarus Ihar Stasevich BATE Borisov
2017
 Belarus Mikhail Gordeichuk BATE Borisov
2018
 Belarus Ihar Stasevich BATE Borisov
2019
 Belarus Ihar Stasevich BATE Borisov

Reserves League

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An annual league competition is organized for the reserve teams of Premier League clubs since 2001. This tournament was won by the reserves of Dinamo Minsk (9 titles), Gomel (2 titles), Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2 titles), BATE Borisov (1 title), Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (1 title) and Dnepr Mogilev (1 title).

Attendances

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The average attendance per top-flight football league season and the club with the highest average attendance:

SeasonLeague averageBest clubBest club average
20192,463Dynamo Brest8,839
20181,943Dynamo Brest6,572
20172,019Dynamo Brest5,289
20161,481BATE4,796
20151,696BATE5,070
20141,853BATE5,964
20132,119Gomel4,256
20122,053BATE4,598
20112,372Gomel4,841
20102,301BATE4,530
20092,661Gomel5,123
20081,715Gomel3,700
20072,475Gomel6,131
20062,318Gomel5,969
20052,192Gomel3,854
20041,977Gomel3,967
20032,103Gomel4,053
20022,826Neman10,269
20012,867Neman4,400
20003,092BATE4,944

Source:[7]

Notes

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  1. ↑ a team of the Belarusian Military District
  2. ↑ a team of the Home of the Red Army (Home of the Red Army is a special organization and used to include sports section preceding the Army Sports Club (SKA))

References

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  1. ↑ Smith, Rory (24 March 2020). "All Alone, Belarus Plays On". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Coronavirus: Belarus Premier League attracts global attention as it plays on". BBC News. 29 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Last league standing: Belarusian football basks in new-found popularity". The Guardian. 29 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Harris, Christopher (2020-04-12). "Belarusian Premier League streaming live games on YouTube for free". World Soccer Talk. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  5. ↑ Pettigrove, Jason (3 April 2020). "Belarusian Premier League: Betting tips, predictions and teams to watch". Betfair. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  6. ↑ McMahon, Alex (9 April 2020). "Belarusian Premier League Betting: Tips, News & Belarus Football Guide". 888sport. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "Belarus attendances". European-football-statistics.co.uk. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
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