The first Muslim to represent England’s rugby league side has joined the growing number of calls for the Rugby Football League, “as a matter of urgency”, to follow the example of other sports and introduce pauses allowing players observing Ramadan to break their fasts.
A number of Super League players are fasting during Ramadan, with the London Broncos duo Iliess Macani and Hakim Miloudi revealing recently to the Observer that Miloudi was forced to break his fast mid‑match, consuming food and drink while the game was going on because of the lack of a proper break for players to eat their first meal after sunset, known as the iftar. The Salford centre Nene Macdonald did the same during their game against Leigh on Saturday evening.
