BATE strike a blow for football's romantics

FC BATE Borisov president Anatoli Kapski believes his side's UEFA Champions League success is proof that you do not need a substantial budget to be a big success, telling uefa.com: "If football was that simple the public would have lost interest long ago."

Romantic epic
Just 12 years after their foundation, the Belarussian champions have found themselves competing in the group stage of Europe's top competition and, while they are bottom of Group H, Viktor Goncharenko's side are still in with a chance of qualifying for the next phase of the tournament – something which Kapski feels is a victory for football's romantics. While his side were routinely written off as also-rans at the start of the campaign, Kapski noted: "These pundits only look at clubs' budgets when they write about how strong they are." He added: "If football was that simple the public would have lost interest long ago. People like football because of its unpredictability, so it is great for us to confound these predictions."

Casual attitude
In ten years in the top division in Belarus, BATE have always finished in the top three and this year won their fifth title. "We started from the bottom, from the third tier," said Kapski. "To be honest, the people who persuaded me to get involved did not take this project seriously. They just wanted to start the project and then see what happened."

No profit
As it is, BATE have increased in stature as time has passed. "We have become stronger with every year and that will lead us to success and good results," said Kapski, adding: "We can't divorce our success from the economic situation, which is also developing in Belarus." However he noted that, despite all of this, "football is not profitable" for the club.

Shop window
That may change if, as expected, BATE find themselves being made offers they cannot refuse for the young, homegrown stars who have proved to be decent competitors against Real Madrid CF, Juventus and FC Zenit St. Petersburg this season. It may be that the forces of commerce persuade the club to adjust their usual reliance on academy graduates to maintain current standards.

Consistent aim
"We will listen to worthwhile offers, but only if they suit the players' and club's interests," said Kapski. "As for our selection policies, we can bring in new players from abroad, but we are not just going to ship in a load of players from Latin America or anywhere else. We are working on new signings but our newcomers will still be young players who can make their names at BATE."

Famous four
In terms of dream signings, Kapski said he would like to bring in "[Andrei] Arshavin, [Anatoliy] Tymoshchuk, Gianluigi Buffon and, of course, my favourite player Sergio Ramos". BATE's success in the UEFA Champions League might not have those four knocking on Kapski's door just yet, but the next generation of would-be BATE stars will know well that Borisov is no longer a footballing backwater.