Premier League Gives Time For Muslim Players To Break Their Fast During Ramadan 2023

The Muslim player in the English Premier League who defended Everton, Abdoulaye Doucoure (right). (Photo: Twitter/@premierleague)

JAKARTA - Muslim players in the English Premier League will be given a time lag to break the fast during the month of Ramadan 1444 Hijri. This is an agreement between the English League operators and team captains and Muslim players.

"As in the previous year, this season the club captain and Muslim players agreed with the Premier League match officials to take a short break in the game so that players or match officials can break their fast," the official statement wrote on the official Premier League website.

This policy was carried out in the previous season in 2021. At that time, an agreement was made to provide opportunities for Muslim footballers to open up in the middle of the match.

In the match between Leicester City against Crystal Palace on April 26, 2021, the game had a break during the goal kick while waiting for Leicester Wesley Fofana and Palace's Chikhou Koyate players to open with drinking water and energy jelly intake.

One of Everton's Muslim players, Abdoulaye Doucoure, stated that he always fasts in the month of Ramadan. He admitted that he had never had any problems with his physical condition even though he still had to practice and undergo matches during the day.

🗣️ “We feel very confident here, very accepted” - @abdoudoucoure16Muslim players will once again be able to break their fast during #PL matches over Ramadan ➡️ https://t.co/KHk4XCFlMF pic.twitter.com/lfo68wXTyC

— Premier League (@premierleague) March 22, 2023

"I fast every day, I don't miss a single day. It's been normal and very easy for me," said Doucoure.

"The exercise in Ramadan is still the same, but if we go for an away game, we may need to postpone eating from others, so the chef prepares food for us, making sure everything feels like it's home."

"We get halal food, so there's no problem," said Doucoure, who is fasting with other Everton Muslim players Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana.