Day 25: The Midnight League

Throughout my research in writing about Ramadan from an athletic and sporting perspective, football has repeatedly come up. From an academic research perspective, there is far more evidence available involving football and Ramadan than any other sport. This isn't just specific to the UK either. However, researching media articles also shows football as a sport that generates the most discussion specific to Ramadan and athletes who are fasting. This makes fair sense, as football is the most popular sport in the UK. But, I had hoped to learn more about the effects of fasting in a wider range of sports during my Ramadan journey. However, I won't complain about this, because I have two very good football-specific stories to tell today.

On the evening of Monday 26th April Leicester City were playing Crystal Palace in the Premier League. I'm excited to say that for the first time in British football history (as far as I can recall or seek confirmation via the Internet) an elite-level football match was halted for a Muslim player to break his fast during Ramadan. I didn't witness this at the time, as I mainly watch Scottish football these days, but it was brought to my attention by a client who reads my Ramadan updates; thanks, Jack!


The fasting player involved was Leicester's Wesley Fofana. Media reports from the match state that before the game it was agreed between both clubs and the referee that Fofana would be able to leave the field of play at a suitable point towards the end of the first half, once the sun had gone down and it was time to break fast. Under the rules of football, players may not leave the field of play during a match without the referee's permission. 

Fofana was extremely grateful after the match towards the referee and the Crystal Palace players in particular who played their part without complaint. 
Palace were winning 1-0 at the time, but would eventually lose 2-1, with Fofana putting in a top performance before being substituted after an hour. Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for Fofana and stated that he felt it was remarkable that he could play such an important role in the team without food or drink during fasting hours. 

Whether it is, or it isn't the first time, doesn't really matter. It's just great to see the British sport supporting a Muslim athlete like this at the highest level. Stopping matches to break fast is standard practice in Muslim countries, but I'm sure very few people have ever seen this in the UK, especially not on TV.

The second football story I have learnt about recently is the 'Midnight League' in Birmingham. The Midnight League is an initiative founded in 2018 for people fasting during Ramadan to get their football fix between Iftar and Sehri. The Midnight League is open to people from all faiths and backgrounds and is apparently quite popular with students in the areas surrounding the host football club, Saltley Stallions FC. The Midnight League has also recently been the focus of an EA Sports advert which won a Channel 4 award for Diversity in Advertising. 


I am unaware of any similar initiatives in Glasgow but I am certain that they would be very popular with players of all ages and abilities. I'd be more than happy to play in a Glasgow league next Ramadan, if my knees have recovered from up upcoming double operation to reconstruct my ACL (again).

Finally, and completely unrelated to Ramadan, I might as well take the time here in such a football-dense article to congratulatemy hometown club Morecambe FC on finishing 4th in League 2 yesterday (Saturday) and making it to the play-offs with a great chance of promotion to League 1! 

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