# 2002 Belarusian Premier League

The 2002 Belarusian Premier League was the 12th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 12 and ended on November 8, 2002. Belshina Bobruisk were the defending champions.

## Team changes from 2001 season

Teams finished on the last two places in 2001 – Naftan Novopolotsk and Vedrich-97 Rechytsa relegated to the First League. They were replaced by 2001 First League winners Torpedo Zhodino and the newcomers, First League runners-up Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk. Neman-Belcard Grodno changed their name back to Neman Grodno.

## Overview

BATE Borisov and Neman Grodno finished the season with equal number of points and advanced to the Championship Play-Off. BATE won the play-off game and became the champions for the 2nd time. They qualified for the next season's Champions League. Neman Grodno and 2002–03 Cup winners Dinamo Minsk qualified for UEFA Cup. Due to Premiere League expansion from 14 to 16 teams starting with next season, only one lowest placed team (Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk) have relegated.

## Teams and venues

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity | Position in 2001 |
| Belshina | Bobruisk | Spartak Stadium (Bobruisk) | 5,800 | 1 |
| Dinamo Minsk | Minsk | Dinamo Stadium (Minsk) | 40,000 | 2 |
| BATE | Borisov | City Stadium (Borisov) | 5,500 | 3 |
| Neman | Grodno | Neman Stadium | 14,000 | 4 |
| Shakhtyor | Soligorsk | Stroitel Stadium | 5,000 | 5 |
| Gomel | Gomel | Luch Stadium | 5,000 | 6 |
| Slavia | Mozyr | Yunost Stadium | 5,250 | 7 |
| Torpedo-MAZ | Minsk | Torpedo Stadium (Minsk) | 5,200 | 8 |
| Dnepr-Transmash | Mogilev | Spartak Stadion (Mogilev) | 5,700 | 9 |
| Molodechno-2000 | Molodechno | City Stadium (Molodechno) | 5,650 | 10 |
| Dinamo Brest | Brest | OSK Brestskiy | 3,000 | 11 |
| Lokomotiv-96 | Vitebsk | Dinamo Stadium (Vitebsk) | 8,250 | 12 |
| Torpedo | Zhodino | Torpedo Stadium (Zhodino) | 5,000 | First league, 1 |
| Zvezda-VA-BGU | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 17,000 | First league, 2 |
* ^ Gomel spent the season at Luch Stadium, as their regular stadium Central Stadium was closed for renovation.
* ^ One game played at City Stadium in Molodechno.

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | BATE Borisov (C) | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 51 | 20 | +31 | 56 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Neman Grodno | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 20 | +27 | 56 | Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 41 | 23 | +18 | 51 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Torpedo-MAZ Minsk | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 51 | |
| 5 | Torpedo Zhodino | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 43 | |
| 6 | Gomel | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 43 | |
| 7 | Dinamo Minsk | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 44 | 28 | +16 | 42 | Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 8 | Belshina Bobruisk | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 37 | |
| 9 | Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 36 | |
| 10 | Dinamo Brest | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 25 | 26 | −1 | 32 | |
| 11 | Slavia Mozyr | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 38 | 61 | −23 | 24 | |
| 12 | Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 28 | 48 | −20 | 18 | |
| 13 | Molodechno-2000 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 59 | −36 | 12 | |
| 14 | Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk (R) | 26 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 20 | 77 | −57 | 9 | Relegation to Belarusian First League |
* ↑ The title was decided in a championship playoff as BATE Borisov and Neman Grodno finished with equal points.
* ↑ Dinamo Minsk qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round by winning the 2002–03 Belarusian Cup.

### Championship play-off
## Results

| Home \ Away | BAT | BSH | DBR | DMI | DNE | GOM | LVI | MOL | NEM | SHA | SLA | TMI | TZH | ZBM |
| BATE Borisov | | 2–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 6–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Belshina Bobruisk | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Dinamo Brest | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Dinamo Minsk | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 6–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 6–3 |
| Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Gomel | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–2 |
| Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk | 1–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–4 | | 1–3 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Molodechno-2000 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Neman Grodno | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Slavia Mozyr | 0–2 | 1–6 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 5–2 | | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Torpedo-MAZ Minsk | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Torpedo Zhodino | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 4–1 |
| Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |

## Belarusian clubs in European Cups

| Round | Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup ||||||
| First round | BATE Borisov | 3–0 | Akademisk Boldklub | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Second round | 1860 München | 0–5 | BATE Borisov | 0–1 | 0–4 |
| Third round | Bologna | 2–0 | BATE Borisov | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| 2002–03 UEFA Cup ||||||
| Qualifying round | Dinamo Minsk | 1–5 | CSKA Sofia | 1–4 | 0–1 |
| Qualifying round | Gomel | 5–0 | HJK Helsinki | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| First round | Gomel | 1–8 | Schalke 04 | 1–4 | 0–4 |
| 2002–03 UEFA Champions League ||||||
| First qualifying round | Portadown | 2–3 | Belshina Bobruisk | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Second qualifying round | Maccabi Haifa | 5–0 | Belshina Bobruisk | 4–0 | 1–0 |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Valery Strypeykis | Belshina Bobruisk | 18 |
| 2 | Yury Markhel | Torpedo Zhodino | 17 |
| 3 | Sergey Nikiforenko | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 12 |
| 4 | Viktor Borel | Gomel | 11 |
| 4 | Gennadi Bliznyuk | Gomel | 11 |
| 4 | Vadzim Boyka | Dinamo Brest | 11 |
| 4 | Ihor Chumachenko | BATE Borisov | 11 |
| 4 | Denis Karolik | Belshina Bobruisk | 11 |
| 4 | Dzmitry Kavalyonak | Neman Grodno | 11 |
| 4 | Maksim Tsyhalka | Dinamo Minsk | 11 |