The French Football Federation has decided: interrupting a match to allow Muslims to break the fast during this period of Ramadan is prohibited. The body, through the Federal Commission of Referees (CFA), puts forward the “principle of neutrality of football at the places of practice” to explain itself, according to BFMTV.
And the FFF has decided to be strict: “Anyone violating these provisions will be subject to disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings”, recalling that in these competitions, it is prohibited “any speech or display of a political, ideological, religious or union”.
“The idea is that there is a time for everything. A time to play sports, a time to practice your religion, ”explains Éric Borghini, president of the Federal Commission of Referees at the FFF, to Agence France-Presse. According to him, the FFF 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”, said he added, recalling “the scrupulous application of article 1 of the statutes of the Federation on the demanding respect for the principle of secularism in football”.
In England, a reverse 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.
In Nice, many Muslim players celebrate Ramadan and, according to Digard, this is not a problem. “We accompany them as best we can. We have a high quality performance division. They are monitored in terms of food and hydration. They do it [fasting] out of conviction and it makes things a lot easier,” he said.
Ramadan began on the evening of Wednesday March 22 and will end on Friday April 21.
