Leeds United condemns fans’ booing during Ramadan break

In its first official response, Leeds United expressed its strong disapproval of the booing by its fans during the stoppage of play in their Premier League match against Manchester City at Elland Road on Saturday. The stoppage was to allow Muslim players to break their fast during Ramadan.

The match was paused after 13 minutes, allowing players from both teams to go to the sidelines to break their fast and drink fluids after a long day of fasting.

At that point, Leeds fans began booing, a chant that continued for approximately one minute during the stoppage.

Leeds United’s response, published by the BBC, stated:

What happened during the stoppage of play for our players to break their fast was regrettable.

The club added in its statement that an investigation into the incident would be conducted to discuss measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.

According to press reports quoting Leeds manager Daniel Farke at a press conference on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League match against Sunderland, he said:

Frankly, it wasn’t the right thing to do, and we all need to learn from this.

This occurred despite an explanatory message being displayed on the stadium’s giant screen informing fans of the reason for the brief break for the players’ Ramadan iftar meal.

It’s worth noting that the Premier League has allowed referees to temporarily halt play for iftar during evening matches in Ramadan for several seasons, a measure that has been implemented in previous matches without significant controversy.

Featured image via the Canary