Muslim footballers - This is not a dig at Islam

[Anonymous]

Before I make my point can I just say this is no dig at Islam, nor is it meant with any disrespect towards Islam or Muslim people.

For those who don’t know, Kolo Toure is a devout Muslim. Devout Muslims fast during the period of Ramadan. This year, Ramadan fell on the dates 22nd August to 19th September which clashed with the beginning of the season.

This seasons derby at OT fell on 20th September, which means Toure (and potentially any other Muslim players) would of been fasting during the build up to this game. This could have affected the condition of the player and their physical/mental preparation for this match, and also any previous matches.

The point is, should these players be allowed to participate in Ramadan? Or should they even be played in football matches?

( I am aware that we won the first 4 league matches of the season, I am not criticising Toure’s performances during this period. This point can also apply to various other professional footballers.)

 

[moomba]

Same sort of problem in a few sports with Yom Kippur.

I think you've just got to respect peoples beliefs, we would have been aware of Kolo's religion when he signed. If we thought it wasn't acceptable we would have moved onto another player.

 

[bluetonium]

The point is, should these players be allowed to participate in Ramadan? Or should they even be played in football matches?

You can't stop anyone from practising religion, it's their right. If a football club has an issue with it they should factor that into their decision to buy/play the players in the first place, kind of like the African Nations.

It's an interesting point though - am sure Kolo like all pro football players has a fairly strict diet, so there must be some kind of consideration of religious events such as this. At Christmas I know players are discouraged from over-eating, but that's a far less directly religious event nowadays for most people anyway I think.

 

[Damocles]

Yeah, you cant really discriminate against a professional because of their religion, so telling muslims not to play during Ramadan would be doing that.

It is my understanding though, that during the period of Ramadan, no fluids may pass the lips either. If this is true then I would expect most footballers would understand and opt out of playing anyway. That is, even if there is a problem, I don't know how bad it effects you.

What about Muslims on here? Have you guys had a drop in sports performance over Ramadan?

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

That's pretty interesting, I didn't know Kolo was a muslim. Ramadan goes back 10 days evry year, so it's gonna get much harder for muslims over the next few years as they have less time to eat and more time of actual fasting as the days are longer and nights shorter. 2 people in my office are muslims and 1 of them who goes to the gym regularly knocks it on the head during Ramadan. if I was fasting I'd do the same as I imagine not only would you feel shattered but you'd probably do more harm to your body than good.

Fair play to Kolo he seemed to be able to hadndle it and his performances at the time spoke for themselves.

 

[bluebrickroad]

some catholics still don't eat meat on a friday.

 

[es1]

Same sort of problem in a few sports with Yom Kippur.

I think you've just got to respect peoples beliefs, we would have been aware of Kolo's religion when he signed. If we thought it wasn't acceptable we would have moved onto another player.

yep

however yom kippur is only one day so its easy to work around it (we played on yom kippur this year but fortunately we have no jewish player atm) yossi benayoun has in the past...and we even had the date of a game changed in our last promotion season when the home game with walsall fell on YK!

 

[lancs blue]

I think the fast is only during daylight hours, they can eat after dark.

 

[bluenova]

It's an interesting point - I got a taxi during Ramadan this year and the driver was telling me that many of his colleagues had taken time off as they found it too difficult to work while fasting. He was also a muslim and was working less hours.

However I'd imagine football at the top level is a completely different issue. It's likely that footballers can keep to the spirit of Ramadam while still getting the required nutrition. Can anyone enlighten us with what actually happens?

 

[Wrighty Wrexham]

Is he on Ramadan at the moment????