Soccer Star Benched for Fasting During Ramadan

More news stories on Islam in America

Jeff Israely, Yahoo! News, August 27, 2009

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls on different dates of the Western calendar each year, began on Aug. 21 in 2009, just in time for another event in Europe with near religious significance: the kickoff of soccer season. But the timing has sparked controversy in Italy, where in the past four days both a prominent coach and a team owner in the top Serie A league have linked the rigors of Ramadan’s sunrise-to-sunset fasting to Muslim players’ poor performance on the pitch.

Just 30 minutes into his team’s disappointing 1-1 tie Sunday with Bari, Inter Milan’s Portuguese-born coach Jose Mourinho pulled midfielder Sulley Muntari, a practicing Muslim, out of his home debut. “He was clearly struggling,” Mourinho said of the 25-year-old Ghanaian player during the postgame press conference. “It’s the month of Ramadan, and that’s what affected his performance, which is why I took him out.”

A top Muslim leader in Italy, Mohamed Nour Dachan, lashed out at the coach of the defending Serie A champions. {snip} “We know from sports medicine that the mental stability of an athlete lets him give so much more on the field, and a player observant in Christianity, Judaism or Islam definitely has a very tranquil psychology.”

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Italy’s sports pages duly took note of other Muslim players who observe Ramadan with varying degrees of strictness, including Siena’s Abdel Kader Ghezzal, an Algerian who scored a goal against AC Milan on Saturday. Though a practicing Muslim, Ghezzal says he does not fast on training and game days during Ramadan. Inter’s Muntari is more observant, though he reportedly ate pasta at lunch on Sunday, while refusing water before the match. Most imams say there are just a few groups of people exempted from the daytime fast, including pregnant women, the sick and the elderly. Though the Koran doesn’t cite any excuses based on profession, as with all other religions there are Muslims who are more and less observant of the letter of the law, with the requirements of their jobs sometimes playing a role.

Stefano Tirelli, the Milan-based personal trainer for Muntari and several other top soccer stars from Africa and the Middle East, says that depending on the playing conditions and the individual, lack of food and water can limit performance. He recalls his experience working for the United Arab Emirates and Qatar national teams, which featured less robust players in 100°F (40°C) heat, saying their speed and stamina were indeed affected by the Ramadan fast. {snip} “But mental strength, determination and, yes, religious force, for one month’s time, can easily overcome the deficit in proper nutrition.”

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Original article

(Posted on August 28, 2009)

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Comments

1 — Anonymous wrote at 6:19 PM on August 28:

I’m with the soccer player. Ballet dancers basically starve to get down to the required 25 pounds less than normal for their hieght weight. They are as much atheletes as any soccer player and they do just fine on their starvation diet which involves 3 day fasts combined with about 400 calories on the days they eat.

Models never eat either.

2 — Anonymous wrote at 7:49 PM on August 28:

The Ramadan fast is yet another aspect of Islam and its ritualism. It causes many problems. In the evenings there is a spike in traffic accidents in muslim countries as hungry workers rush home to get something to eat. In Germany Turkish workers were found to pass out on construction sites from a combination of heat exhaustion and lack of nourishmnet, often with serious consequences for other workers.

3 — Anonymous wrote at 9:51 PM on August 28:

The performances of many Muslim athletes don’t seem to be affected by fasting at all. I’ve kept up with this for several years as a curiosity. Basketball legend Hakim Olajuwon, in fact, claims that he played better during Ramadan, and he had the statistics and a player of the month award to make his case. But basketball is an indoor sport and I’m sure temperature makes a difference.

4 — flyingtiger wrote at 1:55 AM on August 29:

Why are moslems playing soccer? It is forbidden. It is not mentioned in the koran, so it is forbidden.

5 — Hugh Murray wrote at 1:37 PM on August 29:

The solution to the problem is quite simple, - demand an equal playing field for all! Require all players, whatever their religion, to abide by the fast of Ramadan. Then all players will be equally dehydrated and unable to play their best.
Oh, and while doing that, expel all women spectators from the stands, for they should not be permitted to view men in shorts.
Oh and while doing that…———Hugh Murray

6 — Bernie wrote at 3:33 PM on August 29:

“A top Muslim leader in Italy, Mohamed Nour Dachan, lashed out at the coach of the defending Serie A champions. {snip} “We know from sports medicine that the mental stability of an athlete lets him give so much more on the field, and a player observant in Christianity, Judaism or Islam definitely has a very tranquil psychology.”

So now a Muslim cleric is advising one of the best soccer coaches in the world on athletics. But if he is so smart how come a Muslim nation never won the World Cup? Why have only Christian or post-Christian nations won the World Cup?

7 — Sonya wrote at 10:28 PM on August 31:

Anonymous wrote: Models never eat either.

There are women that are naturally “runway” thin, and it is not because they starve themselves. A lot of it is genetics.

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