Following controversies of previous years, the French Football Federation (FFF) has established a general framework pertaining to the practice of Ramadan during national team gatherings, reports L’Équipe .
Indeed, it was only last year that an intervention from Kylian Mbappé was required in order to prevent French youth players from taking collective action against the federation’s then unofficial directives that strongly advised players not to fast during international call-ups, leading to FFF president Philippe Diallo declaring that “There should be a directive in place for all players of all age groups”.
As a result, Diallo and the FFF general director Jean-Francois Vilotte have spent the last months working on a “General framework” that has been transmitted to all coaches of all French national football teams, from youth to the senior team.
What does this mean in a practical sense? Training sessions, meals and matches will not be rescheduled to accommodate the requirements of the period of Ramadan, in line with the French concept of “laïcité” , the constitutional principal of secularism in France, meaning that players of Muslim faith have been asked to reschedule their fasting to avoid doing so during international windows.
Predictably, this decision has provoked both support and criticism within the French national set up, with a vast majority of Muslim players across all age groups and levels adhering to the new guidance, although with certain players bemoaning a “lack of flexibility” and certain players questioning the reasons they were left out of this international break in particular.
An FFF spokesperson was unequivocal in declaring the operation a success:
GFFN | Jack McArdle