Leeds have condemned the “unexpected and disappointing” booing from fans during a scheduled pause for players to break their Ramadan fast in last weekend’s defeat to Man City – but set out a number of “mitigating circumstances” in their defence.
Despite messages appearing on the Elland Road big screen during the game with Manchester City confirming that the match was being paused to allow the players to break their fast, loud boos were heard during the 78-second delay.
Another break will be held during Sunday’s FA Cup tie with Norwich, with Leeds’ Joel Piroe expected to participate.
The club has attempted to head off a repeat by calling on fans to “respect” those players breaking their fast, but in a lengthy statement – which did not include an explicit apology – listed four “mitigating circumstances” surrounding the original incident.
The four mitigations cited were:
- In their statement, Leeds wrote: “This was the first time a game at Elland Road has ever been paused to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast. In hindsight, we should have been more proactive with our communications in advance of the Manchester City fixture to explain to supporters that this was going to happen, there was a clear lack of awareness by some attending the fixture.”
- Secondly, Leeds said: “Whilst we displayed a message on our big screen at Elland Road to explain why the game had been paused, this was not visible for approximately 25 per cent of the stadium, including the South Stand.”
- Thirdly, the club explained: “In our preceding fixture with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in November 2025 the game was controversially stopped in the second half for a ‘tactical timeout’ during an injury break and with the squads congregating on the touchline supporters may have thought this was happening again (a similar incident to this also happened last Tuesday against Sunderland AFC leading to booing).”
- And finally, Leeds stated: “At the time of the stoppage, given the intensity at the start of the match, a number of players were confused why the game had been paused, which can be seen clearly on broadcast footage and may have also led to confusion for supporters.”
Leeds concluded their statement by saying: “Football still has a long way to go in eradicating stains on the game, including racism, homophobia, tragedy chanting and the sickening Jimmy Saville taunts our own supporters are subjected to at every match from opposition fans. As a club, we will continue to work to ensure that in time, these issues cease to exist.”
As part of Ramadan fasting, observers are obliged to avoid all food and drink (including water) from dawn until sunset.