Former Dynamo head coach Aleksandr Khatskevich told Zhyttia-Malina how the Czech Republic reacted to his Belarusian passport.
Oleksandr Hatskevych. Photo: Gettyimages-Was there a moment when you felt like a nobody with that blue passport?
- It was the moment when I left Ukraine on 10 April. The war started on 24 February, and I left on 10 April. We arrived in Prague, and I needed to get my passport legalised. There are centres there that do this. You go there to get a visa.
The policeman saw my blue passport and didn't even ask me where I was coming from. He could see that we were travelling from Ukraine. He just stamped the deportation visa and told us to be gone in a month. I told him I couldn't go back to Belarus today. He said: "You don't have a war, so go back there." I said: "I can't." I started to explain why, but no one wanted to listen.
- How did it end?
- We submitted documents and appealed against the visa. The documents are still being considered in Prague to this day.
- More than a year?
- More than a year. We have a document that allows us to stay in the Czech Republic, there are no problems. But you can't go anywhere else.
- How true is it that you received international protection?
- I don't know what it's called, but I received a residence permit in the process.
