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Football is the most popular sport on the planet. In an organisation of 211 members of the Fifa community, the sport is followed by many millions of people across the world.
Those millions are people from diverse ethnic, cultural and religious communities.
Every year, Muslims observe Ramadan, a holy month marked by fairly strict discipline, in which no food or water is consumed between sunrise and sunset.
It’s been a few years now since Zinedine Zidane lit up the world stage with sensational performances. Sadly, he did get himself sent off during a World Cup campaign, but we won’t go into that here as it’s been well documented.
In more recent times, we’ve had the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané of Liverpool, both committed Muslims, as well as Paul Pogba of Manchester United.
How do these players, and many more like them, fare during the month of Ramadan?
Many of the games they play are during daylight hours and, even if they weren’t, the players couldn’t consume a large meal and take to the field a short while later.
As a referee, would you have a problem with a Muslim player asking to have a drink?
I would not. I don’t see any harm in it. It’s entirely up to the player to decide whether they want to have a drink or not.
I know that Muslims are strictly not allowed to consume anything, even water, during the fasting hours. However, if a player came to me and said they needed water, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I would allow them to leave the field of play and signal to me when they were ready to return.
Recently, Leicester City and Crystal Palace agreed before their game to pause their match at sundown in the first half to allow their Muslim players to break their fast.
I don’t think the game should be held up for that to happen.
What is the difference between doing so and allowing a player to leave the field to change their boots? None, I dare say.
Sportspeople hold different beliefs and that’s fine with me. However, the laws of the game must be obeyed, and if a player wants to leave the field for whatever reason, I wouldn’t have a problem.
Discrepancies
Inconsistency seems to have been keeping its head above the parapet in recent games, especially concerning what constitutes a foul, particularly a foul inside the penalty area.
Recently, we had two similar alleged fouls from behind – one was given and the other was not. This kind of inconsistency drives players, managers and spectators crazy.
Why is it happening?
I don’t have the answer. You’d have to talk to the referees involved. However, it may be one of the following:
- Lack of courage on the part of the referee because of the teams that are playing or the competition and what’s at stake;
- Unsighted fouls, but then there’s the video assistant referee for that; or
- Lack of guts on the part of those involved.
There is a serious decline in refereeing standards in the English Premier League that needs to be arrested before it goes too far to be pulled back.
Will it happen? Don’t hold your breath.
Happy whistling!
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