The Premier League and English Football League will continue to allow Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast during matches this year.
Since the procedure was first introduced in 2021, teams with Muslim players are able to agree with the referee to find a natural pause in a match for those players to eat some food or replenish themselves with energy gels.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during the hours between sunrise and sunset. It runs in the United Kingdom this year from Tuesday 17 February to Wednesday 18 March.
This weekend, sunset in England will occur at around 5:30pm GMT. Therefore, if requested, there could be a break in play after sunset when Tottenham play Arsenal in the late afternoon game on Sunday.
West Ham’s El Hadji Malick Diouf, Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara, Tottenham’s Djed Spence and Arsenal’s William Saliba are among the Muslim players in the Premier League, alongside the likes of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Manchester United’s Amad Diallo.
In 2021, Leicester’s Wesley Fofana and Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate were allowed to have Iftar, the evening meal that sees Muslims break their fast at sunset, during a match between the teams.
Fofana thanked the Premier League, Crystal Palace and the match officials for allowing him to break his fast, while Everton players Abdoulaye Doucoure, Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana similarly stopped a match against Newcastle to break their fast in April 2024.
“I always love Ramadan,” Doucoure told the BBC in an interview in 2023. “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.
“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.”
