9 amazing footballers celebrating Eid in 2024 feat. Liverpool & Man Utd stars
Across the world, Muslims are preparing to celebrate Eid – including world-class stars from Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona.
Practising Muslims have spent the last month observing Ramadan – a period of fasting, prayer and reflection commemorating the prophet Muhammad’s first revelation – meaning some players have been unable to consume food of fluids during daylight hours.
We’ve seen Premier League matches pause to allow these participants to break their fast and we’ve compiled this list of some of the superb players preparing to celebrating Eid after the end of Ramadan.
Mohamed Salah
Arguably the most famous Muslim sportsman in the world, Salah is currently observing Ramadan – although he has not spoken publicly about his plans for fasting.
“It is not about football – you know the reality between the clubs – but as a human being I love him [Salah],” said Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure in a BBC interview last year.
“As a footballer you always want to be an example and Mohamed Salah is one of those.
“He is doing well at his club so people love him, but they also learn about his religion Islam. He is a good example for us and is perfect.
“He is good for society and if myself and my team-mates can be an example to others in the city [of Liverpool], that would be great.”
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Achraf Hakimi
Spanish-born Hakimi is a devout Muslim. The PSG defender, often identified as one of the world’s best in his position, observes Ramadan every year.
“I think I made the decision to play for Morocco because it’s where my parents come from, how they raised me in a Moroccan, Muslim home, so I thought I’d be more comfortable playing for the Morocco national team,” he told the Bundesliga website in 2020.
Hakimi has previously admitted that Ramadan makes training and playing more difficult for himself.
“It makes things harder, I don’t deny it,” he said. “But it is an important part of my religion and culture, which I really care about. The important thing is to rest well and recover energy.”
Amad Diallo
Amad’s memorable winning goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals was even more remarkable with the knowledge it came during the Manchester United winger’s fasting period.
Extra time at Old Trafford meant his goal was scored at 6.11pm local time, seven minutes before sunset in Manchester.
Two days before the game, Amad received a pack containing a travel prayer mat, ceramic jars to put dates in honey, prayer beads, Zamzam water (sacred holy water taken from a well in Makkah) and attar perfume, an oil-based scent commonly worn by men in the Middle East.
The following week at United’s Carrington training ground, the club’s Muslim employees held an Iftar in which coaches, physios, operational staff and players attended.
It’s clear that clubs across England are increasingly aware of Ramadan and giving their players appropriate support during the holy month.
Ilkay Gundogan
Gundogan has been outspoken about his Muslim roots growing up in the German city of Gelsenkirchen and reaffirmed his strong faith with an extremely charitable donation in 2021.
Then at Manchester City, the midfielder sent over 3,000 meals to Indonesia – the country with the largest Muslim population in the world – to help those in need during the month of Ramadan.
In the true spirit of the Third Pillar of Islam, which promotes almsgiving and charity, Gundogan used his own wealth to give something back in an act of extreme kindness.
Sadio Mane
In a previous interview with the Daily Mail, Mane said: “Religion is very important to me. I respect the rules of Islam and I pray five times a day, always. I won’t touch alcohol.
“There was no conflict between religion and the fact that I wanted to play football. I was brought up correctly and in the right way and my parents are proud of the fact that I am a footballer.”
Mane’s father was even the Imam of a local mosque in his home country of Senegal.
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Abdoulaye Doucoure
“I always love Ramadan,” Doucoure told BBC Sport in 2023. “Sometimes playing football has been hard because Ramadan has been in the summer and during pre-season.
“But I have always been lucky to practise Ramadan and there have never been problems with my physical condition – I am grateful for that.
“My religion is the most important thing in my life – I put my religion first, then comes my work. You can do both together and I am happy with that.
“You get so much free time so I am always able to go to the mosque to pray and to enjoy my religion when I’m at home.”
N’Golo Kante
Kante once fasted in secret at Caen in the midst of summer, according to an episode of Oh My Goal’s Soccer Stories.
“It was also really hot, so you could tell that he was suffering,” said then-teammate Jerome Rothen. “He approached me [and said], ‘Jerome, please don’t say anything. I’m asking you to do this.’
“I respected his choice …. In the end, he didn’t say a word. He did everything.”
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Ousmane Dembele
There was much controversy in France last month as the French Football Federation announced players serving with the national team would not receive any allowances for Ramadan.
The FFF has “invited the players to delay their fasts” while they are with the national team.
The federation has also made it clear that matches will not be stopped to allow players to break their fast, training will not be delayed, and meals will happen with everyone present.
“The pitch is not a place for the practise of religion, whatever religion that may be,” the FFF was quoted as saying. It added that according to its own regulations it is obliged to respect “absolute religious neutrality.”
Dembele is a devoted Muslim and the PSG forward always marks the religious feast of Eid Mubarak on his social media accounts.
Antonio Rudiger
Rudiger is a practising Muslim and used Chelsea’s trip to the United Arab Emirates for the Club World Cup in 2022 to underline his faith, posing in religious garments with his then team-mates.
The defender and the German Football Association (DFB) recently announced that will take legal action after the defender was linked to a terrorist organisation.
“For everyone who doesn’t want to recognise Antonio Rudiger’s Islamist greeting as an Islamist greeting,” former BILD editor Julian Reichelt commented on Rudiger’s social media post.
“The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution calls this gesture the ‘IS finger’ and sees the index finger as a clear sign of Islamism.”
Posting a photo of himself in a white robe on a prayer mat Pointing to the sky as part of a greeting for the holy month of Ramadan, Rudiger had captioned the post: “May the Almighty accept our fasting and prayers.”