'Pressball' Website Blocked Again

The epic continues.

The site of the "Pressball" sports edition is not opening again - neither in Belarus, nor abroad. When trying to access the pressball.by address, the user sees the following message: "The account is blocked by the server administrator".

It has been impossible to access the site of the publication since June this year by the decision of the Ministry of Information. The officials found a "violation of the law" on the site. But on October 23, the site was unblocked.

"Pressball" has been published since January 1991. After the mass protests in 2020, the editor-in-chief was changed and some of the staff left. Recently, Pressball has been going through a financially difficult period. In August, the editorial staff tried to launch a new Re:sport website, but the authorities promptly blocked it as well. Journalists were published only on social networks. There was a threat that the print version of the publication might cease to exist at all.

In August 2023, the paper's editor-in-chief, Siarhei Lisichkin, died. A new one appeared only in October, director Yury Arlou was appointed. Before that, the Belarusian Football Federation received a full stake in Pressball.