Mikhail Syarheyevich Sivakow (, ; born 16 January 1988) is a Belarusian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Russian Media Football League club SKA Rostov-on-Don.

Career

Club

Sivakow began his career with

Smena Minsk Minsk-2 is a Belarusian football club based in Minsk and is a reserve team of FC Minsk. History The team was formed in 1954 as FShM Minsk (''Futbolnaya Shkhola Molodyozhi'', or ''Football School of Youth'') and was essentially a student team. Dur ...

, before joining

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; , ''BATE Barysaw,'' ), commonly referred to as BATE or BATE Borisov, is a Belarusian professional football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusian Premier League, of which the ...

in January 2003 where he scored 14 goals in 83 games for the reserves. At the age of 17, he received interest from German club Borussia Dortmund but never signed for them. He started playing with the senior side in 2005, participating in 13 games and scoring one goal in the

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League (, ''Vyšejšaja Liha'' or ''Vysheyshaya Liga''; ; "Top League"), also called the BETERA Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Belarus and the highest level of the B ...

. On 31 January 2009, he was signed by Italian Serie A side

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

in 4-year contract. He made his Serie A debut on 8 November 2009, replaced

Davide Biondini Davide Biondini (; born 24 January 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Cesena Biondini started his career at Cesena, near his birthplace. After playing more than 40 Serie C1 games, he left ...

in the last minutes, against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

. On 27 January 2010, he was loaned to

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

to swap club with

Radja Nainggolan Radja Nainggolan (born 4 May 1988) is a Belgian professional association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Challenger Pro League club K.S.C. Lokeren-Temse, Lokeren-Temse. Nicknamed ''Il Ninja'', he spent almost his entir ...

. On 28 January 2011, Sivakow signed a half-year loan deal with

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

. He was the most remembered for his 51,1 m goal against

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa. The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...

. On 25 August 2011, Sivakow left Cagliari to join

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

side Zulte Waregem. He signed a four-year contract with the club. On 28 January 2015, Sivakow signed a six-month contract with

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

side

Gabala FK Gabala SC (, ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Qabala, which have competed in the Azerbaijan Premier League since 2006. They will be set to play in Azerbaijan Premier League from 2025–26 season follo ...

, linking up with fellow former

FC Chornomorets Odesa FC Chornomorets Odesa ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Odesa, Ukraine. According to the club's website, it was formed in 1936 as ''Dynamo'', but until 2002 it carried a logo with 1958 and 1959

players, Dmytro Bezotosnyi, Oleksiy Gai,

Ruslan Fomin Ruslan Fomin (; born 2 March 1986) is a Ukrainian retired footballer who played as a forward. Career He was loaned to Metalist Kharkiv in 2007. Fomin was also a member of the Ukraine national under-21 football team, as well as a former member ...

and manager

Roman Hryhorchuk Roman Yosypovych Hryhorchuk (; born 22 March 1965) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and former player. Early life Since the fourth grade, around 11 years of age, Hryhorchuk was interested in handball and competed for local village ...

. Sivakow left Gabala at the end of his contract. In June 2015, Sivakow signed a two-year contract with

FC Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk was based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team currently plays its games at Slavutych-Arena in Zaporizhzhia. The modern club as a ...

. On 19 January 2017, he signed with a

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

side

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Orenburg. Founded in 1976, it will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season. History It played professionally as Gazovik ...

. On 17 June 2017, he signed a two-year contract with another Russian club

FC Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm ( ) is a professional association football, football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm, Russia, Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 ...

. On 24 July 2018, he returned to

after Amkar was declared bankrupt. Sivakow left Orenburg as his contract expired on 10 June 2024.

International

Sivakow played with the

Belarus national football team The Belarus national football team (; ) represents Belarus in men's international football, and is controlled by the Football Federation of Belarus, the governing body for football in Belarus. Belarus' home ground is Dinamo Stadium in Minsk. ...

's under 17 side from 2004 to 2005, and in 2006 with the under 19 side. In 2008, Sivakow became a member of the under 21 squad. He played his first game for the squad on 14 October 2008 and scored a goal in the 39th minute against Turkey. Sivakow was a leading member of the under 21 side that participated in the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 comp ...

and exited at the group stage. Two years later, he captained the under 21 team that finished in 3rd place at the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 18th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011. The Danish bid was chosen by UEFA's Executive Committee on 10 De ...

and qualified for the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Sivakow appeared in all five of the matches. He also captained the Belarus Olympic squad that participated in the

2012 Toulon Tournament The 2012 Toulon Tournament was the 40th edition of the Toulon Tournament and took place from 23 May to 1 June. Colombia national under-20 football team, Colombia were 2011 Toulon Tournament, the defending champions, but they did not participate th ...

, playing in all three of their matches and scoring one goal. Sivakow made his debut for the senior national side of his country on 2 June 2010, in the 0:1 home loss against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

after coming on as a substitute for Sergey Omelyanchuk during the second half.

Personal life

His mother is of Polish descent.

Career statistics

Club

Notes

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 9 June 2017''

International goals

:''Scores and results list Belarus' goal tally first.''

Honours

BATE Borisov *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs of Belarus, organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. Belarusian Cup was established in 1992. Each year the winning team qualifies f ...

: 2005–06 *

Belarusian Super Cup The Belarusian Super Cup () is an annual one-match association football competition in Belarus organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the Belarusian Premier League Champi ...

Wisła Kraków *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Belarus U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

third place:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

*
Player profile on official FC BATE website

Football LineUps Stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sivakow, Mikhail 1988 births Footballers from Minsk Belarusian people of Polish descent Living people Belarusian men's footballers Belarus men's youth international footballers Belarus men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century Belarusian sportsmen Belarus men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders FC BATE Borisov players Cagliari Calcio players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players Wisła Kraków players S.V. Zulte Waregem players FC Gomel players FC Chornomorets Odesa players Gabala SC players FC Zorya Luhansk players FC Orenburg players FC Amkar Perm players FC SKA Rostov-on-Don players Belarusian Premier League players Serie A players Serie B players Ekstraklasa players Belgian Pro League players Ukrainian Premier League players Azerbaijan Premier League players Russian Premier League players Russian First League players Belarusian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Russia