How do footballers adapt during the Holy month of Ramadan?

euronews (in English)

During the Holy month of Ramadan, Muslim footballers will fast from sunrise until sunset. How do they adapt, and does it impact their performance?

Transcript

00:00A footballer's diet is a crucial part of them staying match fit.

00:05So what happens when, for religious reasons, players have to fast during the season?

00:10Let's take a look at how players around the globe adapt during the holy month of Ramadan.

00:21Hello and welcome to Football Now, here from the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar.

00:26The holy month of Ramadan has just begun.

00:29During this period, those observing around the world fast from food and water, from sunrise

00:35to sunset.

00:36So we're Muslim, Ramadan is a holy month, we need to fast.

00:42Fasting would be from 4am up to 6pm, 5.30pm, depending on when the sunset is.

00:51More than one reason actually, a reason that I can say here is to feel the poor people,

00:56they suffer somehow from not having food, not having place and all that.

01:01So Ramadan makes you feel sympathy with the poor people, so it's a full month that we

01:07fast from sunrise to sunset.

01:09Ramadan can be quite an intense period for both the mind and the body, and of course

01:14that has implications on Muslim footballers.

01:18In Europe, the match schedule continues unaffected, but in regions like here in the Middle East,

01:24where the Islamic calendar is followed more closely, is it business as usual, or do they

01:29adapt to accommodate those that are fasting?

01:32It's not easy, first of all, but this holy month here in Qatar, of course it's an Islamic

01:38country so they compromise a little bit.

01:40Trainings would be more in the evening, matches would be also in the evening, it would be

01:46in around 8, 8.30, 9, so you shouldn't eat as much in what we call breakfast at 6pm.

01:56So at the beginning it's not easy to adapt, but once you get used to 5, 10 days then you

02:02get used to it.

02:03Some people would say it's a healthy diet, not to eat much, to fast and to eat a little

02:08bit and then at night to have something before the sunrise.

02:13The Islamic calendar is based on cycles of the moon, meaning the exact dates of Ramadan

02:18change every year by an average of about 10 days.

02:23As the holy month begins to move into the winter, this is good news for footballers

02:27who play in Europe, as their daylight hours, and therefore fasting times, are now shorter.

02:34That said, scheduling of the European leagues is not altered by Ramadan, meaning players

02:38in the likes of England, Germany or Spain sometimes have to play a full 90 minutes of

02:44football without breaking their fast.

02:47Some of the most famous players in the world fast for Ramadan, and it's miraculous that

02:51they don't let their performance levels drop.

02:53Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored three goals and assisted another three during this

02:58period last season.

03:00I asked former sporting Lisbon midfielder Idrissa Doumbia, now playing his football

03:05here in Qatar with Al Ahly, how he kept at peak performance during Ramadan while playing

03:11in Europe.

03:12Honestly, personally, when I was at Sporting, I'm not going to hide it, they were really

03:17good with me because they knew I was practicing Ramadan, so my science was a bit adapted

03:22compared to the others, of course, because they knew that with Ramadan, the heat and

03:26everything, and the time to break the fast, it was a bit difficult, so they adapted the

03:30training to my level, so that's a little bit.

03:35Of course, during Ramadan, the focus is mainly on the players.

03:38But it is also a change in circumstance for their coaches, who have to manage this period

03:43and balance looking after players while still getting positive results for the team.

03:49Coaches, when it comes to scheduling, you've got to manage your players, and you'll only

03:53see first-hand as the manager and coach, how other players are affected after the first

03:59couple of games.

04:00It's a bit like when you start the new season, you know, match fitness isn't quite there.

04:04Yes, it's a short window, it's only one month, but still, that's four games, which is crucial,

04:09especially as it is at the moment with the Saudi Pro League, you know, you've got Ittihad

04:12and Al-Hilal, two huge contenders, and this could be meant for a break for either of those

04:18teams depending on how players adapt and how coaches kind of manage their players as well.

04:25When the fast is broken at the sunset, this is known as Iftar.

04:29It's at this time that Muslim families and athletes have a huge meal to reload on the

04:34supplements they've missed out on during the day.

04:37We spoke to Nelda Nader, a leading dietician at Aspartar Hospital, to understand how and

04:43what a footballer eats changes during Ramadan.

04:47Well, obviously, if the training schedule is changed a bit, that would help them.

04:52But in terms of nutrition, we try to have a plan that would cover their needs within

04:59the timeframe that is non-fasting.

05:02So Iftar will become their fueling meal, so it's kind of like the lunch meal that we talk

05:07about, but it also needs to be easily digestible, so they need to try to go away from the fat.

05:14It cannot be a high carb load as well, because then digestion will require more time and

05:19their performance will drop straight away after the Iftar.

05:23So that would be considered like a fueling meal.

05:26And the Suhoor, which is the second meal, pre-dawn meal, that would be their recovery

05:31meal.

05:32But in between, if it's possible to add one more meal or a snack or a supplement, that

05:38would be very helpful for them.

05:41A fascinating insight there into how footballers all around the world adapt during the holy

05:48period of Ramadan.

05:49Let us know how you think they do it using the hashtag, footballnowramadan.

05:54That's all we've got time for this week.

05:56We wish you a Ramadan Kareem and we'll see you next time.

06:00Bye for now.

Category

Transcript

Recommended