Originally published 2021-04-29.
On the evening of 26 April 2021, the Premier League match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium stopped briefly shortly after sunset. The reason was simple: two players, Leicester defender Wesley Fofana and Palace midfielder Cheikhou Kouyaté, were observing the Ramadan fast and needed a moment to take on water and an energy gel. It is widely believed to have been the first time a Premier League game paused for this purpose.
The break lasted only moments, yet it was praised by fans, pundits and players far beyond the two clubs. Below is what happened, why it mattered to the players involved, and how a one-off gesture turned into standard practice in English football two years later.
What happened during the match
According to reporting at the time, the captains agreed before kick-off that play would halt at the first suitable moment after sundown. That moment came at roughly the 35th minute. When the ball went out for a goal kick, Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita held on to it rather than restarting play, giving Fofana time to drink water and Kouyaté time to take an energy gel on the touchline.
Later accounts also credited the match officials, led by referee Graham Scott, for allowing the pause. Nobody had to feign an injury or waste time under false pretences; the stoppage was understood by everyone on the pitch.
A correction is worth making here. Some versions of this story claimed Leicester won 3-0. That score belongs to Leicester's previous match, a home win over West Bromwich Albion on 22 April. The Crystal Palace game finished Leicester 2-1 Crystal Palace, with Palace scoring first and Kelechi Iheanacho among Leicester's scorers.
Why Ramadan affects professional footballers
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and fasting during it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. For 29 or 30 days, observant adult Muslims take no food or drink from dawn until sunset. The day usually begins with a pre-dawn meal called suhur and ends with iftar, the evening meal, which many people start with dates and water. The month closes with the festival of Eid al-Fitr.
Islamic practice exempts several groups from fasting, including children, the elderly, people who are ill, travellers, and women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or menstruating. Many who miss days make them up later.
For an elite athlete, the challenge is obvious. A Premier League player can cover more than ten kilometres in a match, sprinting repeatedly, and sweat heavily even in spring weather. When Ramadan falls in March, April or May, evening kick-offs in England can begin before sunset and end after it. Without a pause, a fasting player may have to wait until half-time, or even the final whistle, to drink anything at all.
Clubs typically work with nutritionists to adjust training times, meal plans and sleep around the fast. Fofana's own manager had already shown flexibility: in the West Brom game the week before, Brendan Rodgers substituted him around the hour mark so he could break his fast on the bench.
What the players and managers said
Fofana thanked Guaita publicly on social media afterwards, summing up the mood in four words: "That's what makes football wonderful."
Rodgers spoke warmly about the young Frenchman's commitment. Talking to reporters, he said: "I've worked with lots of players with devotion to their faiths and for a lot of the guys it gives them strength." He went on to describe Fofana as a special talent who was managing to train and play at full intensity while fasting.
Part of what made the moment so widely shared was that it involved opponents helping each other. Guaita had no personal stake in the pause, and Kouyaté played for the other side from Fofana. The gesture cost neither team anything in competitive terms, which made it easy for supporters of every club to applaud.
From a one-off gesture to official guidance
The April 2021 pause was informal. It depended on goodwill between captains, goalkeepers and officials, and there was no league-wide rule behind it. Similar arrangements appeared in other leagues and in later English fixtures, but each one had to be negotiated afresh.
That changed in March 2023. Shortly before that year's Ramadan began, refereeing bodies instructed match officials in the Premier League and English Football League to pause play at a natural break after sunset so that fasting players could take on fluids, energy gels or supplements on the touchline. Referees were encouraged to identify fasting players before kick-off and agree an approximate time for the pause in advance.
In other words, what began as a quiet favour from an opposing goalkeeper became a routine part of match planning. Many English supporters now hardly notice when a game stops for iftar during spring fixtures.
Common questions and misconceptions
Was this the first time a game was stopped for Ramadan?
It is generally reported as the first such pause in the Premier League. Claims that it was the first in the entire history of English football are harder to verify, since informal breaks in lower leagues or youth games would rarely be recorded, so "believed to be the first in the top flight" is the safer description.
Did the pause give either team an advantage?
Not in any meaningful way. Both teams had a fasting player, the stoppage lasted about as long as a routine injury break, and play restarted with a goal kick exactly as it would have anyway.
Do all Muslim players fast on match days?
No. Practice varies from player to player. Some fast every day of the month, some postpone fasts on match days and make them up later, and some follow guidance from their own religious advisers. The choice is personal.
Is fasting safe for athletes?
Professional players work closely with club doctors and sports scientists during Ramadan. Anyone who wants to fast while training hard, especially with a health condition, should talk to a doctor first.
Why the moment still resonates
Football is often criticised for gamesmanship, time-wasting and short tempers. This small stoppage showed a different side of the sport: opponents agreeing in advance to make room for each other's beliefs, with no fuss and no cost to the contest.
The practical lesson extends beyond football. Accommodating faith or health needs rarely requires grand gestures. It usually takes a conversation beforehand, an agreed plan and a little flexibility on the day. That is exactly what the captains, the goalkeeper and the referee managed in about thirty seconds on a Monday night in Leicester.
Sources: Original report via Upworthy; Cyprus Mail: Premier League to allow players to break fast mid-game (March 2023); Wikipedia: 2020–21 Crystal Palace F.C. season; Wikipedia: Ramadan.
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