Romain Saiss: Ramadan and my Muslim faith


Wolves defender Romain Saiss has spoken about being a high-profile Muslim Premier League player and the different experience of Ramadan this year as his club signed the Muslim Athletes Charter.

Having joined Wolves in 2016, he told Sky Sports News what Ramadan means to him as a professional footballer.

"It's really important for me, as a Muslim, it's nice time to spend with family and then to also improve your faith and your knowledge about Islam," he said.

Ramadan has already started and is expected to last until Sunday May 1. During this period Muslims are expected to fast between sunrise to sunset for roughly a month. The period also involves regular daily prayers, acts of charity and self-reflection.

In September last year, Wolves signed the Muslim Athletes Charters  encouraging Muslim involvement in sport. This means more access to halal food, prayer facilities and Muslim athletes being consulted on their faith-based needs.

"It means a lot for a player like me and the other Muslim players, so we know we can have a different option of food, now we are training a bit later, so we missed some prayers sometimes so it's nice to have a prayer room here to do it," he told Sky Sports News.

During daylight hours Muslims will not eat or drink until sunset each day. The Premier League has several athletes who will be fasting throughout the period.

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