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