At the end of a week marred by a controversy around the “general framework” put in place by the French Football Federation (FFF) around the management of the month of Ramadan within the various French teams, the Red Star coach Habib Beye spoke at length on the subject at a press conference this Friday, following the match between his team and Nancy (1-1).
“My position is that I really respect the faith of my players, whatever it is. I have players who are doing Lent at the moment, it’s 46 days, it’s different in the approach to this religion, revealed the technician. What we need to understand is that we only see the downsides. I only see the advantages. It creates cohesion, discussions, solidarity that, perhaps, people don’t see on a football field. When we recruited our players we knew who they were on a human level, what religion they practiced, we didn’t wake up the day before Ramadan. Our job is to support them. »
Asked about the position of the French Federation, defended by its president Philippe Diallo this week, who repeated au Figaro his wish that religion “does not interfere with the athlete”, the former defender of Olympique de Marseille denounces “religious discrimination” and “stigma” against Muslims.
“We are dividing when we should unite around this logic of religion and sharing”
“What I see is very hard to read and hear. If we do it on one religion, we must do it on all religions, and this is not the case today (…) We stigmatize this religion and we put people in boxes, we are dividing , when we should unite around this logic of religion and sharing. What I see is my players who are fasting, alongside players who are not fasting, there is an exchange, there is a laugh, they share the same moments and that, I call that cohesion (…) I am very proud that my players find themselves in their faith, whatever it may be. »
The 46-year-old coach, who has led Red Star for three years, also spoke about the alleged drop in the level of players practicing Ramadan. “What bothers me is to think that players are not performing well because they are doing Ramadan. When you look at my team, today, I have 14 doing Ramadan and 5 doing Lent. Out of a group of 26 players, I have 19 players who are involved in a religion that requires fasting,” he said.
“What we don’t realize is that at that moment they find themselves with themselves, it’s an additional strength for them. In no case is my team impacted by Ramadan or any other religion and you saw it this evening. I have 14 players who are doing Ramadan, 6 were on the field, who fasted and broke the fast at 7:10 p.m., the match being at 7:30 p.m. Did you see Merwan Ifnaoui’s (Red Star player) match? It gives you the answer to the problem that everyone is exposing today,” concluded Habib Beye.
