Match officials across football issued with guidance for holy period of Ramadan and advised to find a natural pause in play during evening matches to allow any Muslim player or official to break their fast; first-ever South Asian heritage female player timeline unveiled at Stamford Bridge
Saturday 25 March 2023 15:21, UK
Muslim players who are fasting over Ramadan and taking part in WSL matches will have the opportunity to break their fast during games following recent guidance issued to match officials.
Ahead of Ramadan, Sky Sports News exclusively revealed match officials across the Premier League and the EFL have been asked to allow players to break their fast during evening matches over the holy period.
Importantly, that guidance also covers matches in the Women's Super League and the FA Women's Championship, allowing elite players in the women's game to break their fast by taking on liquids, energy gels or nutritional supplements, during a natural pause in play.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community.
Muslimah Sports Association Chair and FA National Game Board member Yashmin Harun BEM has welcomed the development and says it helps celebrate the diversity that exists in the English game.
"This is really good news," Harun told Sky Sports News.
"It has happened in the past as well, but it was unofficial, this time it is official.
"That is welcome news, it celebrates the diversity that we have within football in England and that will hopefully filter through and referees will accommodate that at grassroots level as well."
The advisory also applies to any match official that might also be fasting during Ramadan.
Jarnail Singh, who is the first turbaned Sikh referee in English league football history, is pleased to see a common-sense approach being taken that places emphasis on welfare and safety.
"I think it's a long time overdue to be honest with you," Singh told Sky Sports News. "That's simply because it is a health and safety issue here where members of the Muslim faith are fasting for a period.
"Football, being an energetic game, you lose a lot of fluids and salts, and it is important then when the time is right there is a stoppage in play so that they can take on fluid or food, for the sake of a couple of minutes.
"It's similar to in the summer, when you play football, and it is hot, and you allow water breaks. It's the same sort of thing, it's for the players safety, which is paramount."
Two years ago, Sky Sports News revealed Leicester City's match with Crystal Palace had been paused mid-game to allow players to break their fast in what is believed to have been a Premier League first.
On that occasion, both clubs agreed pre-match with referee Graham Scott that there would be a pause in play to allow Wesley Fofana and Cheikhou Kouyate to break their Ramadan fast.
Vicente Guiata delayed taking a goal kick just after the half-hour mark to allow Fofana and Kouyate to take energy gels at the side of the pitch.
Fofana took to social media after the game, thanking Guiata, Palace and the Premier League for allowing him to break his fast, adding: "That's what makes football wonderful."
Harun and Singh were speaking at the launch of a first-of-its-kind timeline and exhibit documenting the history of South Asian heritage female players in the modern English game, created to celebrate Sky Sports' partnership with Sporting Equals.
Marking the evolution of women's football in the Women's Super League era, the timeline highlights 20 current and former players from South Asian backgrounds, who have blazed a trail in the game in different leagues across Britain.
Football coach and London Youth Sports Programmes Officer Radhika Kalia to Sky Sports News at the launch at Stamford Bridge:
"I think it's absolutely brilliant. In the last year, I've gotten to know a lot more about South Asian women in football and it's great to see a visual of these amazing women doing great things in the game.
"It's really big, it's really powerful and it's something I didn't have when I was younger, when I was growing up.
"I was the only South Asian girl at the club that I played at and it's great to see that I wasn't the only one and that there are other South Asian women out there playing.
"One thing that I've learnt, more so as an adult, is the importance of role models and giving them a platform and space to actually showcase themselves.
"I think that's also one part of getting more young people into sport - if you can see people doing the things that you want to do something where you might think: 'I can't do that, people like me don't do that' - but these women here are showing completely otherwise.
"And it's like they say, if you can see it, you can believe it, you can do it."
Harun added: "It's very important to understand the history of South Asian female players in the game and reflect on their journeys for us to get to where we want to get to in terms of making elite women's football more diverse and representative of the nation.
"These inspiring women are brilliant role models, who are changing the way we look at the game and are paving the way for the next generation to thrive. They are turning dreamers into believers and it's important to shine a light on them and celebrate their achievements."
For more stories, features and videos, visit our groundbreaking South Asians in Football page on skysports.com and South Asians in the Game blog and stay tuned to Sky Sports News and our Sky Sports digital platforms.
