Everton midfielder Kenza Dali opened up about her experiences growing up fasting as a footballer. She joined Everton in 2021 from West Ham and is just one of the many Muslims in women’s football. Dali explained that Ramadan which is expected to finish on May 1 is not about just fasting. The holy month involves regular daily prayers, acts of charity, and self-reflection.
“It’s not only like fasting, it’s not about food, it’s not about the drink. It’s so much more than that,” Everton midfielder Kenza Dali said. “Basically, you’re not drinking, you’re not eating. But it’s just like two percent of Ramadan. The other percent is all about connecting with yourself, with your faith, with others, and with your community. I used to always try to do my Ramadan with my grandma. She’s living really close to my parents, but I basically spend a lot of time with her because she can teach me a lot of things. She can’t read so I was the one to read the Quran for her. This was my Ramadan being around my family and going to the mosque with my family. Breaking my fast with my family.”
“Last season I got Hawa Cissoko that was with me and we weren’t alone. So, it helped you to be honest. It helped with football because she’s the one to train with me and stuff,” she added. “Like one month ago before Ramadan started, the coach Chris Roberts came to me and was like, ‘so tell me how you’re doing? How do you organize? What do you need from me? He asks me all the time these questions. Ramadan, I think is a choice that you can’t [let] affect your team, so you need to perform the same way because this is your choice.”
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