Julio Cesar: Playing soccer in the midst of the pandemic

While all Latin American footballers who play in Europe rest, a handful of Brazilians continue to take to the field every weekend. One of them is Julio Cesar, the center back for Vitebsk, the epicenter of the epidemic in Belarus, the only league still running on the continent.

"I have no choice. If we have to play, we play," he said in a telephone conversation with Efe.

Playing no matter what

Faithful to almost forgotten football codes (playing rain or shine), Julio Cesar has already played the first three games of the Belarusian championship with his team. The league is followed by tens of millions of fans around the world due to the suspension of other tournaments.

The International Federation of Professional Footballers has bitterly complained and this week the fan groups of several Belarusian clubs have joined them in boycotting their team's matches, but the President of the Belarusian Football Federation made it clear that they had to keep playing.

"We have complete confidence in our healthcare system. We understand that the situation is very serious in some countries...but in reality, the situation in Belarus is not so critical as to suspend the tournament," declared Sergey Zhardetsky, president of the BFF.

He admitted that the sudden popularity of Belarusian football is positive, as some countries have bought the TV rights for the championship.

"But I believe that now is not the time to look at this from a commercial standpoint. Football can be a way to relax in the face of the current flow of alarming epidemiological news," he argued, almost paraphrasing the country's president, Alexander Lukashenko.

For all these reasons, the Brazilian defender not only has to contend with defenders, but also with that "invisible enemy," COVID-19.

"I'm not afraid, but we have to be cautious," he says.

Vitebsk, the epicenter of the epidemic

Julio Cesar once again suited up on Sunday to face Smolevichi, a match that was supposed to be played away but was ultimately played at a neutral venue.

The thing is that the match was supposed to take place in Vitebsk, a city located near the border with Russia, but the club requested that the match be played at an alternative stadium.

The reason? The poor condition of the field and the snow, an argument that convinced few, considering that independent sources speak of more than a thousand infections in the region, while the central Government recognizes less than 400 in the entire country.

Anyway, Vitebsk achieved its second victory of the championship today, Sunday (0-1), and they currently rank sixth out of sixteen teams.

Julio Cesar acknowledges that he likes Vitebsk, a "quiet" city where he has been "very well received," but the situation has changed in recent days.

"It's starting to show now. There are a lot of people wearing masks and fewer people on the streets," he says.

In the city, there have been graffiti with numbers of coronavirus deaths that surpass twenty, although the authorities have only recognized 8 deaths and 500 infections in the entire country.

Brazil even more dangerous

The Brazilian prefers not to comment on whether it's correct to play soccer when thousands of people are dying from coronavirus in neighboring countries, although he insists that "health comes first, and then soccer."

"My family is worried. But the truth is that Brazil is much more dangerous than Belarus. There are many more cases there," he admits.

By the club's order, he rarely leaves the house except to train. Luckily, the training field is close to his home.

"They ask us to stay at home and have provided us with masks. In the matches, we also don't shake hands, but we play without masks," he ironically assures.

As for the fans, since the average attendance at the matches is a thousand fans, the BFF is trying to ensure that the spectators in the stadiums maintain a safe distance.

From Corinthians to Villafranca

He dreamed of playing in Europe since he was a child, but his arrival on the other side of the Atlantic was not a fairy tale. "They told me I would go to a great team, but they deceived me," he claims.

He had to settle for playing for the modest Spanish club Villafranca, the team from which he made the leap to Vitebsk.

"Spain is more similar to Brazil, there is more technique and dribbling. In Belarus, football is more direct, but the level is average," he explains.

Originally from Sao Paulo, Julio Cesar grew up in the youth ranks of a historic Brazilian football club, Corinthians.

"I coincided with Vagner Love there. He played on the first team and I played in the youth academy," he points out in reference to the forward who succeeded a decade ago at CSKA Moscow.

He says he is getting used to life in Belarus and is in no hurry to leave the country that has given him the opportunity to make a name for himself in European football.

He shares the jersey with two other Brazilians: the veteran midfielder Wanderson, who previously played in Sweden, and Diego Santos, who comes from Lajeadense.

In addition, another Brazilian, Gabriel Ramos, plays for Torpedo and arrived in Belarus after playing for Dinamo Batumi, another team from the former Soviet Union.

"Some footballers don't want to play," he confesses without giving names.

For now, the Belarusian league remains unaffected by discouragement and the coronavirus.