Didier Digard on French FA’s ban on breaks during matches for Ramadan: “The English are more open-minded than us.”

OGC Nice manager Didier Digard has voiced his disagreement with the French FA’s banning of breaks during games for Ramadan. The FFF have sent out an email to officials and referees to reiterate that they will not be allowed to pause matches during the Islamic holy month in order to allow Muslim players to break their fast at sunset. “Football does not take into account the political, religious, ideological, or syndical [trade unions] considerations of its actors”, the French FA have stated, quoting the first article of their statutes. However, the FA and the Premier League have reportedly advised referees to allow Muslim players to break their fast during games.

Digard would have liked the French FA to follow in the footsteps of their English counterparts on this subject. “The English are more open-minded than us about this, and they always were“, Digard said in his pre-game post conference that RMC Sport attended. Speaking about the Muslim players at Nice, Digard has assessed they have total freedom to express their faith. “We support them as best as possible and they are closely monitored in terms of food of hydratation. They do it out of conviction and it makes things a lot easier. We don’t ask them any question. We judge players by their performance, not by whether they fast or not.“

Seventh-placed Nice will travel to bottom boys Angers on Sunday for Ligue 1 gameweek 29.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval