France bans Iftar pause for footballers

The French Football Federation has banned pauses during matches for Muslim players to break their fast.

In this connection, the federation has apparently circulated a warning email to referees telling them that pausing matches to allow Muslim players to break their fast will not be allowed.

The leaked email suggests that the French Football Federation has imposed a ban on officials pausing matches to allow players to take food and drinks at the side of the pitch.

Currently, Muslims players are going through the period of Ramazan, which requires them to abstain from eating or drinking from dawn to sunset.

On the other hand, the Premier League has instructed referees to stop games to allow footballers to consume food and drink.

Similarly, match officials in England’s four professional divisions have been directed to pause games being played in the evening so Muslim players can take drinks,  energy gels and supplements. Contrary to this, the French professional divisions were sent an email by French Football Federation that reads: ‘Football takes no account of the political, religious, ideological or trade union considerations of its actors.’

It concluded that this principle is binding on everyone: authorities – clubs – licensees – referees. It is up to all stakeholders to enforce it.

French international and Aston Villa full-back Lucas Digne was first to respond to the claims. He posted on X, formerly known as twitter: ‘Federation was living in the past.’ He wrote: ‘2023’ alongside three facepalming emojis on the social networking site.