Faith and Football Research — Football Case Study

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Faith and Football: Context

Original Research by Harlem Lamine

Harlem Lamine, Head of Research at Football Case Study, unpacks how Ramadan reshapes the landscape of professional football. The study explores the multifaceted impact of fasting on players’ physical performance and mental resilience while also examining the broader cultural and community dimensions. From adapting training schedules to fostering inclusive environments, it navigates the challenges of balancing tradition and regulation. With insights into physiological metrics, the interplay of secularism and faith, and the role of community engagement, the research illuminates how Ramadan can ultimately strengthen the spirit of the beautiful game.

Ramadan is coming to an end and with it the lessons that professional football must learn. Let's start with the basics. Why is Ramadan an issue in professional football?

1) Because it influences the player's body, which is his main instrument for performance.

2) Because it requires sporting institutions to organize themselves to protect the integrity of the players and ensure that the game runs properly.

Essential aspects need to be considered: performance, culture and community. Performance means understanding how the fasting period influences the athlete physiologically and psychologically. By culture, we need to understand how the clubs, leagues and legislation of each country govern and legislate on religion within sport. By community, we mean all the communities that a club implies, convenes and brings together.

Football does not evolve in an ethereal space, but in a territory governed by laws, rules and customs. Just as, every footballer is trapped in a body that does not have the same metabolism as its neighbor. All these factors are key to studying and understanding the month of Ramadan in the football industry.

1. PERFORMANCE

The body is central to the study and measurement of performance. This can be seen in the prominent place that scientific departments now occupy in the organization of a club. Each player has a personalized record of the number of kilometers they cover, the types of runs they do and the high-intensity effort they put in. Data collected by the sports departments is key to understanding the reasons for poor performance or preventing injury. Ramadan, which consists of going without food and drink from sunrise to sunset, can therefore potentially have an influence on the metrics observed.

However, as mentioned above, hydration and its effects on endurance and recovery are not experienced equally by everyone, particularly depending on the player's position on the field. For example, a goalkeeper does not cover as many kilometers as a defensive midfielder. Metabolism is also an important factor. As does the very nature of football, which is an explosive sport. Playing a match alternates between periods of recovery and periods of effort. This oscillation makes it easier to manage fasting.

Players know how to adapt, and some have a made-to-measure program. And it's during the Open Window that you need to know how to eat and drink intelligently. The Open Window is the two hours following the end of the fast. This is the moment when the athlete regenerates proteins and replenishes his reserves, particularly carbohydrates. The more you optimize this window, the better your recovery, which gives you the opportunity to at least stabilize your performance.

As after eating, sleep is one of the most important factors. Planning a balanced day between training, breaking the fast and sleep is the key to a good follow-up.

According to studies, physiological fasting does not necessarily lead to better performance on the field, but fasting is a source of mental strength and spiritual motivation. Recently, more and more players are confessing to consult a psychologist and stressing the need for mental health. Ramadan involves more than going without food and drink from sunrise to sunset. It is a way of rising spiritually, gaining concentration and discipline. Ramadan, often seen as a time in the season when performances are likely to dip, is also an opportunity for players to redouble their perseverance in their efforts and in their role within the team. It is therefore an ally in building the cohesion of a group, in the extra spirit and tenacity, and even the adversity required when the team is on the back foot.

Scientific research is varied and some contradicts itself on the influence that Ramadan can have on players' performance on the field. But beyond physiological and psychological considerations, the institutional and political framework also plays an important role.

2. CULTURE

Every player, club and league competes in a given territory. Being a muslim professional player of in Belgium, France or England is experienced differently, particularly during the month of Ramadan. The rules of secularism, which establish the neutrality of the State in religious matters, apply in Belgium as they do in France, but their interpretation differs. And the interpretation of this rule radically changes the way Muslim players are perceived in the media. Between rigidity and flexibility, the zone is blurred, and the consequences are leaving their mark.

On Saturday 15 March, SCO Angers played AS Monaco. After an interruption by the referee, the few Muslim players took the opportunity to quench their thirst. However, this interruption went against the rules of the French Football Federation, which invokes the principle of secularism: ‘During competitions or events organized on the territory of the Federation or in connection with them, it is forbidden to make any political, ideological, religious or trade union speech or display, to wear any sign or dress ostensibly expressing a political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation, or to engage in any act of proselytizing or propaganda.’ Following the match, a number of French media picked up on the ‘incident’ and politicians used it for electioneering purposes. Some denounced religious discrimination against Muslims in France, while others asserted respect for the rules of secularism under the guise of denouncing ‘Islamist entrism’. Ramadan goes beyond football, and this incident shows how the image of French citizens of Muslim faith is perceived at national level through media coverage. Understanding the religious dimension of football becomes a gateway to thinking about how ‘ordinary’ citizens live out their faith in a society where the stoppage of an anecdotal Ligue 1 match is a source of controversy in the media.

In Belgium, secularism is lived and judged in society as well as on the field. In the Pro League (Belgian professional football league), there are no strict rules. ‘Everything is left to the discretion of the director of the game. It's a question of common sense, of feeling...’ confesses Stijn Van Bever, head of communications at the Pro League. Secular interpretation is flexible, adaptable and can be adjusted to suit each situation. And in the context of a football match, the referee's role is central in his approach to what is at stake.

Beyond the legal framework, clubs can also encourage good practice and support players. Communication about the athlete's specific needs and/or appropriate follow-up are already methods that can be used to ensure that the player's physical integrity and psychological stability are protected. Especially as competitions do not adapt and schedules remain inflexible. The Ramadan period is also a test for the club to learn how to listen to the needs expressed.

Allowing the player to arrive at training a little later, giving him a meal ready to take home, and communicating with teammates and/or members of staff who can help are all good practices to put in place for the Muslim athlete.

The structure of a club and the culture in which it competes shape the whole experience of a player who is observing Ramadan. Without neglecting the importance of all the corporate bodies that need to be aware of what's at stake, such as the refereeing body, the staff, the cooks and, by extension, the whole community of the sports association.

3. COMMUNITY

Ramadan concerns players, staff, stewards and fans alike. We need to get away from the idea that Ramadan is all about the athletes and their performances. It is a time of year that offers the club an opportunity to strengthen its links with its grassroots and bring together the club's Muslim community, but also beyond, to create dialogue between different faiths, ethnic backgrounds and residents of different neighborhoods.

A club, if we take the word literally in its common sense definition, refers to ‘a society formed to help members carry out disinterested activities.’ Seize the opportunity to use the stadium facilities to enable everyone to feel part of the same community, despite our differences. The club can be a social and cultural platform dedicated to creating and understanding otherness. The iftar is a diner that strengthens family and community ties, and promotes mutual aid, solidarity and social exchange. A practice aligned with the missions of a football club, whose mission is also to promote inclusion according to the statutes of football's governing bodies.

The increase in the number of Muslim footballers in Europe requires facilities that meet these demands. Ramadan only lasts a month, but the players are still there. This month of reinforcement, introspection and spiritual alignment for players and fans can also help the club to work on its inclusion policies. Prayer rooms, halal canteens and restaurants in the stadiums, and above all unfailing public support in the face of expressions of Islamophobia, are all good ways in which we can continue to build football into a place of prosperity for all. Basically, Ramadan raises questions for all of us about our individual and collective ability to listen to our neighbors, about the role of the media in the way they portray ‘Muslims’, in this case footballers, and about our ability to reinvent the club as a social and cultural platform for intercultural dialogue. — HL

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