Ramadan and Football: Not Mohammed Nuaman Abdelfatah Saleh, the popular Palestinian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Egyptian Premier League Club Eastern Company, alone but there are enormous number of footballers who observe Ramadan fast while they play in Premier League.
According to a report by BBC Sports, there are 253 Muslim players in the first teams and academies of the top four tiers of English football who observe during the month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic Calendar. The holy month of fasting, as this month is also known as, began this year on March 23, 2024. It will culminate on April 21, 2023 with the celebration of Eid al Fitr. (The final date of Eid al Fitr will be decided with the sighting of the new Moon on 29th of Ramadan 1444 AH.)
The month of Ramadan is linked with the Muslim Holy Book Quran, the word of Allah, The Almighty. According to the Islamic Faith, Quran which consists of 30 Chapters was first revealed to Prophet Muhammed in this month.
The other virtue of this holy month is fasting when Muslims around the world refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk for the whole of 30 days.
Fasting in the month of Ramadan is mandatory for every Muslim, men or women. Its importance can also be gauged from the fact that fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.
This is why every Muslim, associated with any profession make sure that they observe Ramadan fast without fail.
Among them are also international footballers who despite summer heat and facing hectic schedule join their Muslim brethren to observe Ramadan fast. And, to make them comfortable, their teammates, support them, referees stop matches in the middle so that Muslim footballers break their fast.
And to keep them fit and healthy their personal coaches and physical trainers prepare a tailor-made diet chart for each player along with the club nutritionist, and remains extremely careful to not give them carbohydrate-laden foods while they are breaking their fast.
Following is the profile of some of the top Premier Footballers who observe Ramadan fast, and also visit the local mosques to join prayers.
Called Toffees Trio, Doucoure, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye - the Muslim Midfielders of Everton FC, an English professional association football club based in Liverpool, observe fast during whole of Ramadan.
"Sometimes playing football has been hard because Ramadan has been in the summer and during pre-season. But I have always been lucky to practise Ramadan and there have never been problems with my physical condition - I am grateful for that”, Abdoulaye Doucoure said while talking to BBC Sport.
"My religion is the most important thing in my life - I put my religion first, then comes my work. You can do both together and I am happy with that. You get so much free time so I am always able to go to the mosque to pray and to enjoy my religion when I'm at home”, he said in a reply to a question.
Doucoure also shared similar feelings.
"My family is a very religious family so I learned how to be a good Muslim and for me that is very important. "My faith helped me to go through a lot of barriers so it is very important to me," he told the British broadcaster.
The trio hold a "strong relationship" on and off the pitch, praying in the dressing room where Gueye acts as Imam, and attending the mosque for Jummah - Friday prayers with Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic also joining them.
Ramadan begins at dawn when those observing Ramadan fast wakeup for Suhur, pre-dawn meal. In UK, Suhur time is around 023:30 am and the iftar when Muslims end their fast is at about 08:30 pm GMT.
Wesley Tidjan Fofana, the French professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Chelsea, observed Ramadan fast for whole of the month. According to The Athletic, Wesley Fofana gets up before 2:30 in the morning to have his food during Ramadan.
Fofana had won the praise of his boss back in 2021 when he played the whole game as Leicester beat Palace and Southampton, and in the previous game against West Brom ven though he was fasting.
"He's a young player in the middle of Ramadan so he's obviously not eating during the day," said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers on Friday. "I think it's absolutely remarkable. If you think of his performance at the weekend in an FA Cup semi-final, when he hasn't eaten all day, and then he had his first taste of food (later on).”
"He's a young player in the middle of Ramadan so he's obviously not eating during the day," said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers on Friday.
"I think it's absolutely remarkable. If you think of his performance at the weekend in an FA Cup semi-final, when he hasn't eaten all day, and then he had his first taste of food (later on).”
"I work with lots of players who have similar devotion to their faith and I think, for a lot of the guys, it gives them strength", the Leicester boss told BBC.
N'Golo Kanté, a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the France national team, is a practicing Muslim.
He is also the popular Muslim footballer who observe the Ramadan fast. In fact, there was a debate last year during Ramadan if his performance was impacted because he was not eating anything in daytime.
"At the moment he is fasting due to his religion, due to his belief. Maybe another reason. He is not doing it for the first time but if you don’t eat during the day for many days it can have an effect”, Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said after his team suffered a defeat against Real Madrid.
Besides these players, other Muslim footballers who observe Ramadan fast are Cheikhou Kouyaté - the Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder or centre-back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Senegal national team, Riyad Karim Mahrez - a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Manchester City and captains the Algeria national team, French Footballers Paul Pogba, Ibrahima Konate, Karim Benzema, Youssouf Fofana and a number of other soccer players who all observe fast during Ramadan and matches take pause for them to end thier fast.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently in Saudi Arabia playing for Al-Nassr FC, has sent Ramadan message to his fans across the world.
"Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims", Ronaldo wrote on twitter.
The tweet has won over his fans, with many thanking Ronaldo for the wish.
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