On Saturday evening during Fiorentina’s match against Inter Milan, Sofyan Amrabat, like millions of Muslims observing Ramadan since March 22, abstained from consuming food or drink during daylight hours.
Despite this religious obligation, the Moroccan midfielder was named in Fiorentina’s starting lineup for the Serie A clash at San Siro.
Giacomo Bonaventura, the former AC Milan player, scored the opening goal for the away team in the 53rd minute.
Despite this setback, Fiorentina held onto their lead going into stoppage-time. However, with only minutes left on the clock, Amrabat was presented with an opportunity to break his fast when his teammate, Luca Ranieri, went down injured.
Ranieri appeared to signal for medical attention, despite being alone on the ground. As Ranieri received treatment, the camera turned to Amrabat on the sideline who was seen eating a banana and drinking.
Some have speculated that Ranieri may have feigned his injury to allow Amrabat the necessary time to break his fast.
View the moment below…
Masuk sejak menit ke-66, Sofyan Amrabat tetap berpuasa di laga vs Inter Milan tadi malam.
Luca Ranieri berpura-pura meminta perawatan tim medis agar memberi kesempatan Amrabat berbuka puasa di penghujung pertandingan.. 🍶🍱pic.twitter.com/lA5Ya7AJjU
— Extra Time Indonesia (@idextratime) April 1, 2023
Lucas Ranieri faked an injury to allow his teammate Sofyan Amrabat to break his fast✊🏽❤️#Ramadan#KhairKhwah pic.twitter.com/2jAzJ65Wag
— Salman Afridi (@salmanafrid10) April 1, 2023
Lors du match #InterFiorentina, Lucas Ranieri a simulé une blessure pour permettre à son coéquipier Sofyan Amrabat de rompre son jeûne ! ✊🏽☪️
Il était le seul joueur de confession musulmane sur la pelouse. pic.twitter.com/6okI7kwZDn
— Instant Foot ⚽️ (@lnstantFoot) April 1, 2023
Respect.
Amrabat went on to play the full match and help Fiorentina emerge 1-0 victors.
Fans reactions
“Respect and fair play,” one fan said in response to the footage.
Someone else added: “Bros helping bros.”
“I’m [an] atheist and this is perfectly fine to me, LOL. Bro needs to eat,” a third Twitter user wrote.
A fourth commented: “Gotta love this! Well played!”
While one fan simply tweeted: “That’s so nice.”
And another posted: “You love to see it.”
Vincenzo Italiano: I owe the players dinner after Inter win
Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Italiano was delighted with the result and vowed to treat his players to dinner in his post-match interview.
“We set ourselves the objective of climbing up the table and making up lost ground,”Italiano told DAZN, per tribalfootball.
“It was a complicated situation we found ourselves in, but we gave a strong response. The game with Verona was the turning point, as that was too important for us and I saw something different in the lads. The real difference was upfront, as both of our strikers got their breakthroughs.
“It was a very entertaining match against Inter, we created many scoring opportunities and the lads deserve credit. Now I owe the players dinner because it was my first ever victory at San Siro.”
At the time of writing, Fiorentina occupy eighth position in Serie A and are eight points off the top four.