French Football Federation Bans Ramadan Fast-Breaking Breaks During Matches

"I’m not really concerned because I referee during the day, but I was surprised because we have groups between referees, but we’ve never heard of it," says Elias Nassif, a district referee, to RMC Sport, stressing that he has never had any problems with players during Ramadan. "Of course we’re not going to take five minutes in a match, that wouldn’t make sense, but in the image of a refreshment break that has been incorporated into the regulations, taking 30 seconds or a minute to drink something and eat a little, there’s no problem," he details.

And he adds: "As referees, we are there to protect the players, support them and protect their health. Especially in amateur, we’re not going to prevent seniors or kids from drinking a little water to play football." Moreover, these breaks are allowed among the pros in the Premier League and Bundesliga, notes Elias Nassif, assuring that "even if it’s not allowed, the coaches will make a change and the players will go drink on the bench. It doesn’t cause any problems, even if we have to add a minute of added time."

For the referee, the issue should not generate so much controversy, pointing the finger at poor communication from the FFF. "The press release is a bit contradictory because we are told ’no discrimination, practice football while respecting others’... 30 seconds don’t harm anyone. It refers to articles in the referee’s statute, such as not doing politics, propaganda, proselytism... I understand, it has to be done. After that, to say that taking a 30-second break to drink is proselytism... it’s not up to me to judge, but we’ll see," concludes Nassif.