Guardiola calls for respect after Ramadan break is booed / Photo: Oli SCARFF - AFP
Guardiola calls for respect after Ramadan break is booed
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called for more "respect" towards other cultures after a break to allow his players to break their fast during Ramadan was booed in a 1-0 win at Leeds.
Omar Marmoush, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki took on fluids during the break after 12 minutes at Elland Road, with Abdukodir Khusanov, another Muslim player, on the City bench.
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims worldwide fast from dawn until sunset.
In recent years, the Premier League has agreed for breaks in play after sunset to allow players to replenish their energies.
"It's the modern world," said Guardiola, who recently spoke out to highlight the humanitarian disasters caused by conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan.
"Respect the religion, respect the diversity. That is the point. The Premier League said: 'ok for the fasting, you can be one or two minutes', so we did that for the players."
Anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out posted said the reaction in Leeds, home to one of the largest muslim communities in Britain, showed that there is still a "long way to go in terms of education and acceptance."
In a statement, Kick It Out said: "It's massively disappointing that some Leeds United fans booed when Manchester City's players broke their fast during the first half of the match at Elland Road.
"This was compounded by the fact that an explanation was displayed on a big screen inside the stadium."
The incident came just a week after police began investigating "abhorrent" racist abuse directed online at four Premier League footballers
Chelsea's Wesley Fofana and Burnley's Hannibal Mejbri suffered abuse following a 1-1 draw between their clubs at Stamford Bridge on February 21.
Wolves' Tolu Arokodare and Sunderland's Romaine Mundle were then targeted 24 hours later after their sides lost Premier League games.
D.al-Shehri--al-Hayat
