Football is home to all kinds of diversity. Indeed, therein lies one of the many charms of this sport, exoticism. Players with nothing more in common than the language of the ball.
It is possible to list players with a wealthy background and at the same time do the same with professionals with precarious roots. Likewise, it welcomes any religion that harmoniously allows others to coexist, so it is possible for players who worship different gods to unite to defend the same temple, their stadium.
This week, through the broadcasting of two matches, I have been able to see firsthand how football, revered by some as a pseudo-religion, has crossed any kind of social barrier and has become a cause of faith.
These matches took place in Spain (Real Betis vs Athletic Club) and in England (Leicester vs West Bromwich Albion). In these matches, local players Aïssa Mandi and Wesley Fofana respectively, had to prioritize their profession over their beliefs. Both players were in the middle of Ramadan, a date known in Muslim culture for fasting during daylight hours, and they faced 45 minutes of soccer at the highest level without having eaten any food during the day.
Once the sun went down, there were images in which both players were still feeding themselves on the pitch in order to continue standing up.
The intention of this post, beyond informing and entertaining, is to give visibility to the professionalism of all the people who make up this sport, in this particular case the players. At times with so much background noise, silence and moving forward seem to be the best answer.
Foot Renegades 