Being a Muslim football player in Europe

Abstract

Some of the biggest names in European football today are Muslims, and the game is considered an important force for integration. Observant Muslim players engage with conflicts between religious norms and football norms, including whether, according to Islamic law, playing football for a financial reward is permissible, whether it is permissible to defer fasting during Ramadan for the sake of playing and how to deal, within the context of a football team, with Islamic prohibitions on communal nudity and drinking alcohol. The aims of the article are twofold: (a) to present the religio-legal and cultural context of challenges Muslim players face and the spectrum of contesting opinions in Islamic law regarding these challenges; (b) and to explore the different choices Muslim players make when Islamic and football norms and practices collide, the dynamics leading to these choices and how they are justified.