FSA statement: Ramadan, fasting and breaks in play

The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) stands firmly against all forms of discrimination in football and society. For the past decade our Fans for Diversity campaign, which is run jointly with Kick It Out, has worked hard to ensure that football is welcoming to everyone, all of the time.

We have faith-based supporters’ groups from a wide range of backgrounds who get involved in FSA activity and make a positive contribution inside and outside stadiums to our activities and campaigns.

That includes 11 Muslim supporters’ groups, who we are proud to have as members, including one of our newest groups at the City Ground – Muslim Forest.

Football is the greatest, most popular sport on the planet, with the potential to bring people together like almost nothing else. Stadiums should be welcoming and inclusive spaces for everyone, regardless of their faith, background, or identity. 

So we are deeply concerned by reports of booing from a section of supporters, aimed specifically at players for breaking their fast, during Leeds United v Manchester City.

Such actions are completely unacceptable and have no place in our game.

We have held network meetings with Muslim supporter groups where we discussed the experience of attending football matches and it’s clear that booing the breaking of the fast makes stadiums feel a more hostile environment for those matchgoers.

The FSA and the Fans for Diversity campaign will continue to work together with our supporters’ groups, Kick It Out, players, clubs, leagues, the governing bodies and anyone else who also believes in our basic principle – that matchdays should be open and inclusive for all supporters while discrimination must be challenged.

We’d encourage anyone who hears discriminatory abuse at the match to use Kick It Out’s Report It tool and they will investigate every incident. You can also download the Report It app for iOS and Android. The Premier League also has a good explainer on how to report social media abuse via the platforms themselves and/or your club.