There are now more Muslims playing football than ever before, a lot of Muslim footballers are very skilled at their game and have gone on to play professional football for a league team. There are now around 30 Muslim footballers playing for Premier League teams, some of these big name clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. Some of the most well-known players in the league have Muslim beliefs without you even knowing or noticing.
Here is a list of just some of the professional Muslim footballers, i have not included all names:
- Marouane Fellaini
- Demba Ba
- Yaya Toure
- Kolo Toure
- Hatem Ben Arfa
- Samir Nasri
- Papiss Cisse
- Bacary Sagna
- Edin Dzeko
- Cheick Tiote
You may notice that when a Muslim football player scores a goal they usually crouch down on to their knees and pray, for example when Demba Ba played for Newcastle United, he played quality football and during one match in 2012 he scored and fellow Muslim Papiss Cisse came over to congratulate the striker and both players fell to their knees in prayer, this happens mainly in International football so it is not as often you see it during Premier League matches.
Sometimes having a different religion when you are playing for professional football teams is very hard depending on your religion and you and your club/manager will all have to make changes and try to adapt to each other's way of doing things. For example there is Ramadan; this is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During every day this month Muslims will take part in fasting, this is referred to as not eating or drinking or taking anything that is not allowed such as smoking and drinking. People with this belief must fast from dawn until the sun set; they also address their sins and request forgiveness. The date of Ramadan moves forward by ten days each year, sometimes clashing with Premier League dates. When this happens and the fasting month does clash some managers are unsure of the player taking part in matches. This comes down to the player not having enough food and drink inside them to release energy, athletes can become tired when they have not eaten and this can put strain on their performance. Most managers will work with their player though and use them in the squad as long as their performance is not lacking, if it does they simply take the player off and they sit on the bench.
Another major factor with Muslims playing professional football is that they disagree with any kind of betting company or alcoholic drink being used on their football kit, for example the new Newcastle Away Football Shirt 2013-14 sponsors Wonga, a payday loan company. Some of Newcastle's players have Muslim beliefs and do not like advertising the companies that they do not believe in. There was one problem when Newcastle's new kit was unveiled, Papiss Cisse was not happy with the Wonga sponsorship on the front. The staff and other members from the F.A listened to Cisse's opinions and said that the club would have to come to some kind of compromise so that the player does not feel he is compromising his beliefs. Many other players including Tiote had at first refused to wear the new kit, but now Newcastle football club say this has been solved. Other 2013-14 kits that have been released so far that include betting sponsorships include the Aston Villa football kit and also Fulham's football kits.
When squad members have an outstanding game, they are sometimes named man of the match. In 2012 Yaya Toure was handed a bottle full of Champagne after a fantastic performance and named MOTM but the Muslim footballer turned the bottle down due to his beliefs, he turned to fellow team mate Joleon Lescott and told him to keep it. Since he refused the F.A got together and spoke about some changes that needed to take place, the award for becoming man of the match has now changed to a small trophy instead to respect all religions in football; this is much more sensitive toward religious beliefs. There are many skilful Muslim players now in English football and probably many more to come with all of the great talent that keeps coming in;
Should clubs think about this before signing up with a shirt sponsor?
What are your thoughts on this subject?
Let us know we would love to hear from you.
Emily writes exclusively for Soccer Box, here you can see a range of Premier League football shirts, kits, training wear and souvenirs.
Here is a list of just some of the professional Muslim footballers, i have not included all names:
- Marouane Fellaini
- Demba Ba
- Yaya Toure
- Kolo Toure
- Hatem Ben Arfa
- Samir Nasri
- Papiss Cisse
- Bacary Sagna
- Edin Dzeko
- Cheick Tiote
You may notice that when a Muslim football player scores a goal they usually crouch down on to their knees and pray, for example when Demba Ba played for Newcastle United, he played quality football and during one match in 2012 he scored and fellow Muslim Papiss Cisse came over to congratulate the striker and both players fell to their knees in prayer, this happens mainly in International football so it is not as often you see it during Premier League matches.
Sometimes having a different religion when you are playing for professional football teams is very hard depending on your religion and you and your club/manager will all have to make changes and try to adapt to each other's way of doing things. For example there is Ramadan; this is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During every day this month Muslims will take part in fasting, this is referred to as not eating or drinking or taking anything that is not allowed such as smoking and drinking. People with this belief must fast from dawn until the sun set; they also address their sins and request forgiveness. The date of Ramadan moves forward by ten days each year, sometimes clashing with Premier League dates. When this happens and the fasting month does clash some managers are unsure of the player taking part in matches. This comes down to the player not having enough food and drink inside them to release energy, athletes can become tired when they have not eaten and this can put strain on their performance. Most managers will work with their player though and use them in the squad as long as their performance is not lacking, if it does they simply take the player off and they sit on the bench.
Another major factor with Muslims playing professional football is that they disagree with any kind of betting company or alcoholic drink being used on their football kit, for example the new Newcastle Away Football Shirt 2013-14 sponsors Wonga, a payday loan company. Some of Newcastle's players have Muslim beliefs and do not like advertising the companies that they do not believe in. There was one problem when Newcastle's new kit was unveiled, Papiss Cisse was not happy with the Wonga sponsorship on the front. The staff and other members from the F.A listened to Cisse's opinions and said that the club would have to come to some kind of compromise so that the player does not feel he is compromising his beliefs. Many other players including Tiote had at first refused to wear the new kit, but now Newcastle football club say this has been solved. Other 2013-14 kits that have been released so far that include betting sponsorships include the Aston Villa football kit and also Fulham's football kits.
When squad members have an outstanding game, they are sometimes named man of the match. In 2012 Yaya Toure was handed a bottle full of Champagne after a fantastic performance and named MOTM but the Muslim footballer turned the bottle down due to his beliefs, he turned to fellow team mate Joleon Lescott and told him to keep it. Since he refused the F.A got together and spoke about some changes that needed to take place, the award for becoming man of the match has now changed to a small trophy instead to respect all religions in football; this is much more sensitive toward religious beliefs. There are many skilful Muslim players now in English football and probably many more to come with all of the great talent that keeps coming in;
Should clubs think about this before signing up with a shirt sponsor?
What are your thoughts on this subject?
Let us know we would love to hear from you.
Emily writes exclusively for Soccer Box, here you can see a range of Premier League football shirts, kits, training wear and souvenirs.
