Published on :
The French Football Federation said Thursday in an email to officials that referees cannot interrupt matches to allow players of the Muslim faith to break the Ramadan fast, which began on March 22.
An official update. The French Football Federation indicated, in an email sent Thursday, March 30, to officials, that referees are prohibited from interrupting matches to allow Muslim players to break the Ramadan fast. A different attitude from the Premier League (in England) which has authorized this practice.
“It has been brought to the attention of the Federation of match interruptions following the breaking of the Ramadan fast. These interruptions do not respect the provisions of the statutes of the FFF”, explained the French body in this email sent to its referees, several media reported on Friday.
“The idea is that there is a time for everything. A time to play sports, a time to practice your religion,” Eric Borghini, president of the Federal Commission of Referees at the FFF, told AFP.
According to him, the French Football Federation has been informed that “a number of amateur level matches have been stopped to allow fasting players to hydrate” – and this, “without the regulations allowing it”. , he added, recalling “the scrupulous application of the first article of the statutes of the Federation on the demanding respect for the principle of secularism in football”.
Breaks during Premier League matches
In England, an opposite decision was taken by the arbitration bodies: breaks will be made during Premier League matches to allow Muslim players to break the fast during the month of Ramadan, which began on March 22.
“We are in a secular country, not in a Muslim country”, reacted Didier Digard, the coach of OGC Nice, questioned on this subject at a press conference on Friday. “We know England, we know that they are more open than us on the subject and it always has been. It would be nice if France did it but it doesn’t worry anyone that they don’t. not. Because we are not in a Muslim country. You have to accept the country in which you live”, he added.
In Nice, many Muslim players celebrate Ramadan and, according to Didier Digard, this poses no problem. He also recalled that Nice would only play twice during the fasting period, this Sunday in Angers and April 16 in Brest, two matches scheduled at 15 h.
The rest are “matches at 21 h, the fast will already be broken”, underlined Didier Digard, referring to the meeting with Paris SG and the two confrontations against Basel in the quarter-finals of the Europa League Conference. “We support them as best as possible. We have a high quality performance division. They are monitored in terms of food and hydration. They do it (fasting, editor’s note) out of conviction and it makes things a lot easier,” he said.
With AFP
