Seventy-eight seconds. That’s how long the pause lasted.
On Saturday evening at Elland Road, referee Peter Bankes stopped the Leeds vs Manchester City game in the 13th minute. A message went up on the big screen explaining that three City players Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri needed a brief moment to break their Ramadan fast. The sun had set at 5:42pm over West Yorkshire. These men had been fasting since before dawn. They walked to the touchline, took on fluids, and came back. Seventy-eight seconds.
Leeds fans booed every single second of it.
Let’s just sit with that for a moment. With the explanation on the screen in front of them, knowing exactly what was happening and why, a section of the Elland Road crowd chose to boo three men for having a drink of water during a religious observance that has been a pre-agreed Premier League protocol for several years. Not a surprise, not a trick, not gamesmanship. A pre-agreed protocol. Displayed on a big screen. Still booed.
Pep Guardiola said it plainly after the match: “It’s the modern world, right? Respect the religion, respect the diversity. That is the point” (Sky Sports, March 1, 2026). Kick It Out were equally direct in their statement: “It’s massively disappointing that some Leeds United fans booed when Manchester City’s players broke their fast. This was compounded by the fact that an explanation was displayed on a big screen inside the stadium. As tonight’s reaction shows, football still has a long way to go in terms of education and acceptance.”
A long way to go. That’s putting it politely.
Now I’ve seen some Leeds fans try to explain this away. The message was slow to go up. People were frustrated at a break in early momentum. There was confusion.
Here’s my problem with that. The confusion excuse falls apart the moment the message went up and people kept booing. At that point you know exactly what’s happening and you’re still doing it. That’s not confusion, that’s a choice.
And even if we’re being generous and accepting that some boos were from frustration at the stoppage before the message appeared the fact that so many continued after says everything.
This is not a new protocol either, the Premier League has been allowing Ramadan fast breaks during matches for years. This isn’t the first time Muslim players have paused to break their fast mid-game. It’s happened before. At some point, ignorance stops being an excuse and starts being something else entirely.
The uncomfortable question that this raises and one that football keeps finding ways to avoid answering is how deep does this go?
Is this Islamophobia? When you boo a man for practicing his religion openly and peacefully, and when you do it knowing full well what he’s doing, what else would you call it? Not every person in that ground booed. Let’s be clear about that. But enough did that it became a national conversation, and that’s a problem that belongs to the club whether they want it or not.
Leeds declined to comment when approached by the Press Association. Their assistant manager Eddie Riemer, standing in for Daniel Farke after his red card, said only that he was “disappointed” (Irish News, March 1, 2026). Disappointed, Not furious, Not condemning, Disappointed. Like the result.
The club is now reportedly reviewing CCTV from Elland Road. They could face FA punishment. But here’s the thing — even if they do, what does a fine change? The culture that produces that reaction from the stands isn’t fixed by a financial penalty handed to the boardroom.
Football loves to pat itself on the back for its diversity campaigns. Rainbow laces, No Room For Racism, Taking Knees, T-shirts, Pre-match announcements. And then the game happens and we get Saturday night at Elland Road.
The players doing the right things the ones fasting from dawn to sunset while training at elite level, while performing at the top of their sport, while giving everything to their clubs they deserve better than this. Omar Marmoush and both Rayans are not asking for special treatment. They’re asking for seventy-eight seconds.
Football has a long way to go we know that. The question is whether the people in positions of power clubs, the FA, the Premier League actually want to close that gap or whether they’re just content to keep releasing statements until the next incident.
Because there will be a next incident. There always is.
