The Premier League and the English Football League will once again observe Ramadan protocols, allowing brief pauses in matches for Muslim players to break their fast.
Ramadan begins this week and runs for about a month, during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset.
With sunset in the UK falling between approximately 5:00pm and 7:00pm GMT during the period, only fixtures kicking off at 5:30pm on Saturdays and 4:30pm on Sundays are likely to require a stoppage. As in previous seasons, club captains and match officials will identify a natural break in play to allow players or officials to break their fast. Clubs and officials will agree in advance whether a pause is needed and roughly when it will occur.
The stoppage will not serve as a drinks break or tactical timeout, and play will not be halted during active phases of the game. Any pause will take place at the earliest suitable moment, such as during a goal-kick, free-kick, or throw-in. In 2021, an agreement was put in place to allow Muslim players to break their fast during a Premier League match.
This first break took place in a game between Leicester City and Crystal Palace in April 2021. The match was paused at a goal-kick around the half-hour mark to allow Leicester’s Wesley Fofana and Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate, external to replenish themselves with liquids and energy gels.