European Journalists’ Soccer Tournament Opens With Minute of Silence for Mikita Melkaziorau

The tra­di­tion­al fall soc­cer tour­na­ment for jour­nal­ists in Druskininkai opened with a minute of silence in mem­o­ry of Miki­ta Melka­zio­rau, a promi­nent jour­nal­ist and cap­tain of the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists’ soc­cer team.

At the open­ing of the Euro­pean Jour­nal­ists’ Soc­cer Tour­na­ment, Druskininkai, Lithua­nia, Sep­tem­ber 11, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

“Miki­ta Melka­zio­rau reg­u­lar­ly took part in our tour­na­ments for near­ly two decades, and in recent years he served as the team’s cap­tain. By par­tic­i­pat­ing in inter­na­tion­al tour­na­ments, Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists have con­sis­tent­ly sought to show col­leagues from dif­fer­ent coun­tries that inde­pen­dent Belaru­sian media are alive despite being banned inside Belarus.

Miki­ta began his career as a sports jour­nal­ist, but the events of recent years drew him into cov­er­ing polit­i­cal issues. After becom­ing a star of Belaru­sian YouTube, Miki­ta was forced to leave the coun­try, but he con­tin­ued to work active­ly as a jour­nal­ist. We extend our deep­est con­do­lences to Mikita’s fam­i­ly and to the entire Belaru­sian team, which is why we are open­ing the tour­na­ment with a minute of silence in mem­o­ry of our col­league,” said Tautvy­das Vence­vičius, head of the tour­na­ment and pres­i­dent of the Lithuan­ian Sports Jour­nal­ists Fed­er­a­tion.

Tautvy­das Vence­vičius, head of the tour­na­ment and pres­i­dent of the Lithuan­ian Sports Jour­nal­ists Fed­er­a­tion. The Euro­pean Jour­nal­ists’ Soc­cer Tour­na­ment, Druskininkai, Lithua­nia, Sep­tem­ber 11–12, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

At the open­ing of the Euro­pean Jour­nal­ists’ Soc­cer Tour­na­ment, Druskininkai, Lithua­nia, Sep­tem­ber 11, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

“Miki­ta was the pride and con­science of Belaru­sian jour­nal­ism. He was a star not only of Belaru­sian YouTube, but of the inter­view genre in Belaru­sian media as a whole. Beyond that, Miki­ta was an incred­i­bly great friend, a strong-willed leader, and the dri­ving force behind the team. So this year there was nev­er any ques­tion of whether BAJ would attend the tour­na­ment — it was obvi­ous that we would. We’re here in part to hon­or Mikita’s mem­o­ry,” said BAJ Deputy Chair Barys Haret­s­ki.

The Euro­pean Jour­nal­ists’ Soc­cer Tour­na­ment, Druskininkai, Lithua­nia, Sep­tem­ber 11, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

The Euro­pean Jour­nal­ists’ Soc­cer Tour­na­ment, Druskininkai, Lithua­nia, Sep­tem­ber 11–12, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

The 21st Euro­pean jour­nal­ists’ foot­ball tour­na­ment took place in the Lithuan­ian city of Druskininkai. In addi­tion to Belarus, teams from Lithua­nia, Latvia, Ukraine, the Czech Repub­lic, Aus­tria, Hun­gary, Roma­nia, Greece, Cyprus, and Arme­nia par­tic­i­pat­ed in the com­pe­ti­tion.

The BAJ team is the bronze medal­ist of the Euro­pean foot­ball tour­na­ment for jour­nal­ists. Druskininkai, Lithua­nia, Sep­tem­ber 12, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

Ukraine won the tour­na­ment, with Hun­gary tak­ing sec­ond place. The BAJ team won the bronze medals.