Chris Gunter goes viral in Belarus over his ‘support’ for freedom movement

David Owens

Record Wales caps holder Chris Gunter has long been a fans’ hero, a chin up inspiration who has lived his dream by playing for the national side.

However, after the hard fought win against Belarus on the weekend, he has unexpectedly become something of a cult hero among supporters of the Belarusian freedom movement.

The World Cup qualifier between the two sides was played behind closed doors at a neutral venue in Kazan, Russia, as teams from the UK and the EU are unable to fly into Belarus because of sanctions against their government.

Those who oppose Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko picked up on the fact that Gunter was wearing a red and white wristband that bore a striking resemblance to the former flag of Belarus, which has been adopted by the Belarusian freedom movement in their ongoing protests against Lukashenko.

The latest Wales player to go viral in Belarus is Chris Gunter. He wore a wristband in the colours of the Belarusian freedom flag at today’s game and whether deliberate or not the Belarusians absolutely love him now. Look at the comments on his Instagram! ⚪️🔴⚪️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 pic.twitter.com/Cyoq4LvY3J

— John McAllister (@john_mcal) September 5, 2021

Belarusian sports news service Tribunaby highlighted the fact Gunter was wearing a wristband that resembled the former Belarus flag on its Instagram page posting the message: ‘Greetings from Wales defender Chris Gunter for all Belarusians’, alongside a close up image of his wristband.

The Instagram post quickly gained traction online sparking hundreds of messages of support, and thousands of likes for the Wales international.

Political gestures

However, as much as those campaigning for a democratic Belarus would love to see the inspirational Welshman as a Belarusian freedom fighter, the truth is somewhat different.

The fact is – Gunter has been wearing that same red and white wristband for years.

As our picture (from Wales’ World Cup 2018 qualifier against Austria) shows he’s never without it during international games, which was also pointed out by many Welsh fans on social media.

Anyway, it’s unlikely the Welshman would have attempted such a stunt as it’s a decree by FIFA that international players are forbidden from making political gestures.

Nevertheless, Belarus fans were still keen to thank him for his ‘gesture’, despite Gunter no doubt being bemused by the whole thing.

One supporter summing up many Belarusians feelings posted on Instagram: ‘@chrisgunter2 even though you didn’t mean it, you made many Belarusians happy today, because of your wristband!’

It appears that Gunter’s global appeal knows no bounds. As well as being loved by the Red Wall, he also has how own dedicated fan club in China, which came to light when Wales travelled to the Far East to play in the China Cup in 2018.

There he met a group of super fans, one of which handed him a painting of his famous ‘chin up’ pose.