Abstract
ABSTRACT How do performances of Islam in men's football affect the beautiful game's spatiotemporality? This article argues that football is a performative act in conversation with Islam and other social forces. It investigates two examples of spatiotemporal transformations that dislocate viewers' and fans' assumptions of watching football. First, forward Mohamed Salah performs sujood (prostration) after scoring a goal for his club team. Second, Tunisian national goalkeeper Mouez Hassan faked injuries in two pre–World Cup friendlies in May 2018 during Ramadan, stopping play and the referee's watch so Hassan's teammates could break their fast. In both cases, Islam and football intersect performatively, altering the preexisting structure of contemporary football to reveal the sport's spatiotemporal structures as porous, semipermeable, and performative in reference to surrounding social contexts and religious practices.
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