FROM Barrow to Belarus, it seems Cumbrian fans have been turning to some unusual places this weekend for their football fix.

The Belarusian Premier League, made up of some fairly unknown sides, has secured more than ten international television deals for live matches, taking advantage of the shutdown in other countries.

Football officials there say there is no intention of postponing matches or cancelling the season, which began earlier this month.

Both Barrow and Carlisle supporters have been picking their online favourites during the last few weeks of the football suspension, and Belarusian supporters have been doing likewise.

Dinamo Minsk UK, a supporter Twitter account, suggested that Carlisle are the ‘best team in Cumbria’ whereas Bate Borisov's fans are backing the Bluebirds.

Sites based in the UK, in support of FC Minsk and Slutz have also increased, as has a page for FC Isloch, which has a small but passionate fan base, including a man who plays an accordion during games and a groundsman who carries an AK47.

They also have Guinean striker Mo Yasane, who explained the players’ position, in an interview with French Radio.

“People around the world are worried about all the positive cases and deaths, but we play here, as if nothing had happened,” he said.

“Of course, I am worried about the situation and, perhaps, my life and health are in danger, but I am a football player and I must follow the instructions of ABFF, the African Football Federation and FIFA, because this is my job, which allows me to feed myself and my family.”

“Each time, my family, in particular my mother and sisters, call me to find out how my affairs and health are, everything is in order, have I contracted this disease? It scares me, but I am convinced that in Belarus people are mature, and doctors are professionals.

“For a while, my family took the sanitary situation seriously, but I assure them that everything is in order.

“So I’m not really worried either.”

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power in the former Soviet nation of 9.5 million people since 1994, has downplayed the need for social distancing and bragged that he continues to play ice hockey and embrace fellow players.

However, local football obsessives may have to turn their attention elsewhere soon as Belurusian fans are beginning to question the continuation themselves, with the supporter groups of the larger sides such as Dinamo Minsk pushing for a shutdown, in line with the rest of Europe.