Should games be briefly interrupted at sunset to allow Muslim players to break the fast – iftar – during the month of Ramadan? For the French Football Federation (FFF), the answer is no, and it has made this known to the referees who officiate on the grounds of France and overseas.
"It has been brought to the attention of the Federation of the interruptions of matches [following [de] the breaking of the fast of Ramadan", is it explained in an email of March 30 signed by the president of the federal commission of the FFF referees, Eric Borghini. "These interruptions do not respect the provisions of the statutes" of the body, continues the missive broadcast on social networks. A position justified by respect for the principle of secularism. "The idea is that there is a time for everything: a time to play sports, a time to practice your religion," Borghini told Agence France-Presse.
This is not the opinion of the Premier League, the body that governs the English football championship. As announced by Sky Sports, breaks are made during the meetings concerned during Ramadan, this year from March 22 to April 21.
In the Netherlands, a brief stoppage of the planned match
On Monday April 3, for example, the referee for the match between Everton and Tottenham – which started at 8 p.m. local time – interrupted the game midway through the first half. Abdoulaye Doucouré, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye were then able to hydrate before the resumption of play. Although the sun set before kick-off, already allowing the players to break their fast, a drink break had been agreed in advance between the two teams and the official, explains the BBC.
In line with England, the Royal Dutch Football Federation (KNVB) issued a press release on March 23 inviting referees, both at amateur and professional level, to discuss upstream with the coaches or captains of the teams concerned. with a view to planning a brief stoppage of the game after sunset.
Striker at Heracles Almelo, in the Dutch second division, Ismail Azzaoui is one of two players in his team to observe the fast. Sunday, before the meeting against Almere, at 8 p.m., club staff came to ask him the time of the iftar before talking to the referee.
“As soon as the ball went out of bounds from the 8th minute, the referee whistled and indicated the bench. We understood that it was time for us to cut our fast. We drank water and ate a date. We thanked the referee and resumed the game, ”concludes the Belgian.
In Turkey, a country where Muslims make up the majority of the population, the schedules of the night championship posters have been staggered in order to make it possible to break the fast before playing. This was already the case in previous seasons in the Maghreb and the Persian Gulf.
Simulation of injury
During the 2021-2022 season, a video of the German championship match between Augsburg and Mainz went viral. At the request of the visitors' captain, Moussa Niakhate, a practicing Muslim, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck interrupted the game briefly in the 65th minute. This is the first time that the Senegalese international has requested an official in this regard. " Why there ? Why him ? I don't know, I had a feeling," he testified to Le Parisien.
Today, across the Rhine, there are no rules or explicit instructions, said the head of referees of the German Football Federation, Lutz Wagner, to the N-tv channel. But a whistleman is free to allow players to break the fast when appropriate.
If the example of the match between Augsburg and Mainz has made the phenomenon speak and brought to light, it is not the first time that a referee has briefly interrupted a match in this capacity. French international Eliaquim Mangala remembers an episode during the 2021-2022 season of the French championship. "It lasted thirty seconds, neither seen nor known", testifies to the World the former defender of AS Saint-Etienne. Anyone who has also walked the lawns of Manchester City or Valencia regrets the position displayed today by the FFF. He is not the only one.
Despite the email sent by their federation, some referees continue to take a break to allow players to break the fast. "Especially as an amateur, we are not going to prevent seniors or children from drinking a little water," said one of them, at the end of March, to RMC Sport.
On football fields around the world, simulating an injury to break the rhythm of the end of the match is a great classic. Some therefore use this formula for iftar, like the Italian championship match, Inter Milan-Fiorentina, Sunday April 2. In the 91st minute, Moroccan international Sofyan Amrabat was able to hydrate and bite into a banana with the complicity of his teammate from the Florentine team Luca Ranieri, who remained on the ground. A scene destined to recur more often during Ramadan.
