Fasting during Ramadan does not affect performance of players – Abdul Razak

Abdul Razak, a former coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko has opined that Ramadan fasting should not be a cause of poor performance by Muslim players.

Reliving his days as a footballer, the ‘Golden Boy’ said that while some coaches will give some dispensation to players during the period, others did not compromise.

He, however, maintained that fasting did not affect his performance in training and in official matches.

“Some of our local coaches during our playing days in Ghana understood difficulties of players who are Muslims during Ramadan and gave us options to train once daily but the expatriates did not give us that liberty.

“I still worked hard to achieve my goals. Ramadan fasting did not affect my performance in any way but rather boosted it. Most Muslim players can confirm better output during Ramadan ” he told Nhyira FM.

The issue of Muslim players being given some special treatment during the period of Ramadan has become topical following reports that Mariano Barreto, the head coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko has opted against giving players fasting some preferential treatment.

David Obeng Nyarko, the Communications Manager of Kotoko issued a statement via social media to rubbish the reports.

“Fellow warriors, kindly disregard the wicked lies being purported that our Muslim players met with Coach Barreto in relation to Ramadan and training to which the Coach made certain pronouncement.

Fake stories like these are just ploys to get us distracted and bring down our progress. Let’s please stay focused,” he wrote on Facebook.

Kotoko face Great Olympics at the Accra Sports stadium in a top of the table clash on Friday.