By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
When Mohamed Salah decided not to fast to play last season’s Champions League final against Real Madrid, two things happened; firstly he got a very nasty injury that broke his shoulder, left him in tears and in the hospital. Secondly his team went on to lose that game 3-1 to Real Madrid.
Make your own judgement about Salah’s decision; but some called it Karma.
The month of Ramadan is here. For Muslims, this is the month when they avoid eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset, as prescribed by Islamic law.
But Ramadan is not just a month; today it is a challenge that modern day football including the Sierra Leone Premier League has to adapt to.
Sierra Leone’s population is predominantly Muslim; it is not clear though how many players in the Premier League are Muslims. This is a data that some teams are not even collecting from their players. It is understandable, because this does not have anything to do with their performance, except that at a time like this, it might.
Ramadan is a popular month in this country. Everything gets affected; from work to school to transportation. To adjust to these rapid changes, the Premier League Board has moved to shift the time of most of the fixtures. Fixtures that were supposed to have been played at 6:45pm are now playing at 5:00 pm, just to finish in time for the evening prayer and the end of the fasting day.
The shift in time has affected attendance drastically. Games that have been played so far under this new condition have been almost empty and this takes its toll on the gate takings of the host clubs.
The irony now is that whiles the league is moving to accommodate Muslim fans to turn up and watch matches as usual, Muslim players who will be observing fast will feel the brunt of this change by playing during the day and sometimes in the scorching heat.
The other day the former coach of Bo Rangers, Tito Cole, was moaning about how fasting affected the energy of his team during their game against Central Parade.
“I had four players who were fasting including me and that had its effect,” Cole told Politico shortly after the match.
Bo Rangers drew 0-0 and 24 hours later, Cole was sacked because of that result.
However, his sacking was not connected in any way to the Ramadan.
In spite of his sacking, Cole has a point about football; the exhaustion that comes with it and observing fast at the same time.
According to Dr Vincent Gouttebarge, a former footballer who now works as the chief medical scientists for FIFPro, in normal conditions on average footballers lose 2 litres of fluid in a 90 minutes game. But under very hot conditions the loss of fluid could rise up to 3.5 litres per hour, he wrote on his blog.
The impact of this could range from heat cramp, heat exhaustion and in worse cases heat stroke.
The question is: can players decide not to fast to be in the right form to play?
From a religious stand point, views have been divided.
Islamic scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Bah says players can decide not to fast on match days, provided the game is part of their job.
“If this (football) is your job and you can’t feed your family without it, then you will break the fast and play. But you will have to repay the fast some other day,” Mr Bah told Politico.
But first things first; will players decide to observe fast whiles playing? And if they decide to do so, do they have the permission of their coaches or the club?
How are teams dealing with this?
Football is an endurance sport and fasting takes its toll on the level of energy of the player, no matter how normal that might be for them. For this reason, trainers across the world have developed unique training schedules for Muslim players to get the best out of them during this period.
According to a 2012 report from the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), players can take practical steps to maintain their competitive level during Ramadan.
“The available evidence indicates that high-level athletes can maintain performance during Ramadan if physical training, food and fluid intake are appropriate and well controlled,” the NCBI says.
How many teams in the Sierra Leone Premier League are equipped to follow this routine?
None of the clubs have a comprehensive routine that they have developed to maintain the fine physical balance and performance from these players. This is so partly because most teams can’t afford it.
For now, every team in the Premier League looks like they are handling the issue of players observing fast with an open mind.
Officials of Kamboi Eagles say their players have decided not to fast on match days. Ali El Ali AKA Aliloma, Team manager of The Eagles, says the players have already solved the problem.
“Before we even decided on what to do, the players approached us and said they have decided not to observe fasting during match days,” said Aliloma.
But players of Central Parade say they will observe fasting, even during match days. And so far the players said their club has been supportive.
Parade midfielder, Abdulai Turay, AKA Chulo, said fasting whiles playing is normal for him.
“It is not easy because we a have a match (against Bo Rangers) and it’s a must win for both of us. But football won’t stop me from fasting. It is usual for me to fast and play,” he said as he prepared for that match.
Another Parade player, Yakubu Koroma, AKA Dani Alves, says he already has a formula to observe the fast and play.
“As part of my preparation on match days, I eat light food in the morning to start fasting;” he said. Alves was also speaking during a pre-match preparation.
Teams like Central Parade will suffer the brunt of the physical toll, if there is any, as a result of the Ramadan coinciding with the Premier League Season. Club officials say two third of their players are Muslims and will be observing fast during this month.
Nevertheless, they have been very supportive. As Sidique Mansaray, one of assistant coaches put it: “Ramadan is a blessing so we gave them a free hand.”
But despite the encouragement, the team admitted that they did not foresee the challenges Ramadan will bring, and they have taken steps to adapt to it.
Assistant coach one, Brima Sayo Koroma, said: “It’s a challenge for us to get the players to their very best, we didn’t plan for this.”
He added that “To adjust our routine, we have moved the training session to the evening, instead of morning. We are also working with our doctor’s advice on what they eat.”
This is how some teams are adapting to this Ramadan challenge.
But there have been talks about some clubs paying their players not to observe the Ramadan, something some of the clubs accused of have denied.
What should be done?
It will not be easy for players who will fast and decide to play. The Premier League fixture is so cramped that almost every 72 to 96 hours teams have to play a game.
At the moment there are mooted talks as to whether games should be played at 8:00pm, almost an hour after Muslims have ended the day’s fast. This will be great for revenue and the physical well-being of players.
The discussion around football as a game during Ramadan is not just a religious issue; it’s also a sporting one. Therefore, how comes the league organisers or teams not foresee this and prepare adequately?
Players can decide to observe fast or not whiles they play, but whatever they decide they should get the right guidance and support around them. Medically some things could go wrong, because this is an endurance sport and we don’t look prepared enough for it. The good thing is that no professional footballer has ever been reported dead due to observing fast and playing.
From this point, the league and all the teams must reach a middle ground on how to keep this league going with the same momentum from fans and the same energy from players. Striking that balance is very important.
Ramadan Kareem!
© 2019 Politico Online
