Picture Credit: Twitter
FC Augsburg registered a comfortable 2-1 victory over Mainz 05 at the WWK Arena but the match also presented an incredible moment that transcends the sport. Around the 64th minute mark, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck suddenly decided to stop the play to allow Mainz centre-back Moussa Niakhaté to break his Ramadan fast at sunset.
The Frenchman took his first sip of water of the day as individuals renounce drinking, smoking, eating, and sexual intercourse from sunrise to sunset for a month during this festival. The director-general of communications for the German Referee Committee, Lutz Michael Fröhlich talked about how the referees are given permission to halt play and allow Muslim players to break their fast during Ramadan.
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He was quoted saying, "There is no general instruction in this regard, but of course, we support our referees allowing such drinking breaks during Ramadan at the request of the players." Since then there have been many instances where players are allowed to break their fast on the ground by halting play. As RB Leipzig registered a thumping 3-0 victory over Hoffenheim referee Bastian Dankert allowed Mohamed Siamakan to hydrate.
Last year, Leister defender Weasley Fontana thanked the Premier League for allowing him to break his fast in the middle of the game against Crystal Palace. Fofana and his opponent Cheikhou Kouyate broke the fast after 30 minutes of play. His tweet said, “Just wanted to thank the @premierleague as well as @CPFC, @vguaita13 all the Foxes for allowing me to break my fast tonight in the middle of the game. That's what makes football wonderful ??✊?”