The championship was played as a double round-robin tournament in the summer season of 1996. MPKC Mozyr won the champions title for the 1st time while spending only two seasons in Premier League and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up Dinamo Minsk qualified for UEFA Cup. Bronze medalists and 1996–97 Cup winners Belshina Bobruisk qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup. Obuvshchik Lida and Vedrich Rechitsa, placed 15th and 16th respectively, relegated to the First League.