17th February 2026
February 17 – The Premier League and the English Football League will once again implement Ramadan matchday procedures this season, which allow brief pauses in play to give Muslim players and officials time to break their fast.
Ramadan begins this week and runs for a month, during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset.
As in previous years, any stoppage will be handled with consultation from all match participants. Club captains and match officials will agree in advance whether a pause is needed and when it might occur. Play will not be stopped in open action, but at the earliest natural break, such as a goal-kick, free-kick or throw-in.
The policy was formally agreed in 2021, when the first in-game Ramadan break took place during a Premier League match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace. The game was paused around the half-hour mark to allow Leicester’s Wesley Fofana and Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyaté to take on fluids and energy gels.
The Premier League’s willingness to accommodate religious observance reflects the multicultural fabric of the competition, which features Muslim players including Mohamed Salah, William Saliba, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Amad Diallo.
“In the Premier League you are free to do whatever suits you. They will never do anything against your faith, and this is great,” former Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré told BBC Sport in 2023.
“I fast every day, I don’t miss any day… the chef prepares food for us, making sure everything is in place as at home. We get halal food so there are no problems.”
This practice has become a quiet but powerful symbol of the game’s diversity in England.