Belarus remains the only country in Europe defying the coronavirus pandemic through playing football – and a capacity crowd flocked to watch the Minsk derby at the weekend.

The escalating health crisis has forced the majority of leagues around the world to call a premature halt to their action, with governments urging people to follow social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

But after the Belarusian Vysheyshaya Liga kicked off this year’s campaign against all the odds recently, supporters were not deterred from watching FC Minsk defeat their city rivals in a 3-2 thriller.

The 3,000 capacity venue was bustling during the derby, and supporters had their temperatures checked before being allowed to enter the ground.

Among the frantic atmosphere, a handful of wary fans were snapped wearing face masks to protect themselves from coronavirus, but those in attendance largely appeared determined to enjoy their usual football fix as normal.

A three-goal haul from the hosts all but secured their victory, before the current table toppers were forced to battle hard after the interval after Dinamo Minsk pulled two back in an enthralling clash.

And with a relatively low figure for confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, the Belarus FA chief Vladimir Bazanov remained adamant that the new season would begin on schedule despite the health emergency.

He said last week: ‘For what reason should we not start it? Is a state of emergency declared in our country?

‘There is no critical situation. So we decided that we are starting the championship in a timely manner. Today.’

The president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, also urged action to continue as normal in the country – and even believes that consuming copious amounts of vodka and working on a farm may help combat the virus.

However, former Belarus international Alexander Hleb, who was capped 80 times, has previously expressed his concern with the extraordinary decision.