Referee pauses match to allow footballer to break Ramadan fast in historic first

A Bundesliga match between Mainz and Augsburg was paused last week as the referee allowed a player to break his Ramadan fast.

Mainz centre-back Moussa Niakhate has been observing Ramadan since the Islamic period of fasting, prayer and reflection began at the start of April.

During Ramadan, those partaking must not eat or drink anything during daylight hours, but Jollenbeck paused the game between Mainz and Augsburg in the 65th minute to allow Niakhate to drink some water.

The French defender, aged 26, then ran up to the official to thank him for the gesture.

It was the first time in Bundesliga history that a fixture has been paused to allow a player to break their fast during Ramadan.

The match, which home team Augsburg won 2-1, took place on Wednesday, and there were further cases of referees pausing Bundesliga games to allow players to break their fast at the weekend.

Referee Bastian Dankert paused RB Leipzig's 3-0 home victory over Hoffenheim on Sunday, allowing Leipzig defender Mohamed Siamakan to hydrate.

Per the The Mail, Lutz Michael Frohlich – director of communications for the German Referee Committee – has given his approval for officials to stop matches to allow players to break their fast during Ramadan.

“There is no general instruction in this regard,” he said on Monday, “but of course we support our referees allowing such drinking breaks during Ramadan at the request of the players.”