The Muslim Premier League

20 years ago, there were no Muslim players

in the English Premier League.

But last year, here at Newcastle's St James' Park,

no-one was left in any doubt that they had arrived.

COMMENTATOR: Comes off Dunne, it's Taylor.

Now Demba Ba. Newcastle 1-0.

Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse celebrated a goal with a Muslim prayer.

I'm a striker. I love scoring goals,

and every time I score one goal then I'm more than happy.

That's why I prostrate.

It's a kind of submission, not to anyone but to your creator.

My religion is the most important thing to me.

It's even more important than the football.

The Premier League now has nearly 40 Muslim players.

Enough for three football teams.

In this programme, we'll talk to players and managers

and find out what impact Muslims are having on the English game.

It's important to understand the basics of every religion.

COMMENTATOR: What an absolute screamer!

You find England is a very good place for practising the religion.

COMMENTATOR: Mamady Sidibe!

Everything I does, I does for God.

And if God is happy with me, I am happy.

But how has a profession with a reputation

for nightclub brawls, boozing and excess

dealt with teetotal players who value prayer and fasting?

They still go to the nightclubs.

Don't worry about that!

And we'll find out

what inspired 40,000 Newcastle fans to start chanting about Ramadan.

To have a chant like that, in the corner at Newcastle United,

has got to be acceptance.

And follow Wigan Athletic goalkeeper, Ali Al-Habsi,

as his team triumphs in the FA Cup.

When it comes to Islam, some might say British society needs

positive messages of integration more than ever.

Could English football offer up a surprising model for the future?

# Championes, Championes... #

It's May, almost the end of the English Premier League season,

and not for the first time, Wigan Athletic are battling relegation.

Goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi trains four times a week.

But there are other commitments in his life which rank much higher.

As a practising Muslim, Ali must pray five times a day.

Sometimes in the football you have a lot of pressure.

You have a really hard time in football.

But when you're a Muslim, when you believe in your faith,

I think everything happen because...with a reason.

When I left Oman 11 years ago, I was a fireman.

And today, I reach the highest level of football

in the most strongest league in the world.

This is one of my dreams.

When you have such a life like this, you have to thanks God.

When he used to play for Bolton Wanderers,

he used to come here with Sam Allardyce

and the rest of the players, and we quite enjoyed it.

Sam Allardyce, when he came, he stood outside the door and said,

"I've only got five minutes. I've not got much time."

And you'll never guess what time he left.

After one-and-a-half hours.

Some players take a huge amount of time before a game,

praying to their particular God.

They won't go out on the pitch

without doing some of the certain routines that they do.

They feel God and their religion plays a huge part

in how they perform on the field.

When I start praying before the game, everyone respect what I do.

And this is great.

And they ask me a lot of questions.

I feel very happy to have more questions about Islam and religion.

We are sometimes curious

to know how it works

because it's different, it's just different with the other religions.

Especially for the Muslims.

They have a lot of different things from the Catholics,

so it's always interesting to ask them why they do it.

I think the average professional in a Premier League dressing room

knows far more about Islam than the person on the street.

So actually, Islamophobia is an issue,

but I think it's more an issue in English society

than in English football.

When it comes to accepting Islam,

Premier League players are ahead of the game.

But have the clubs adapted to Muslim players?

Here at Liverpool's training ground,

team doctor, Zafar Iqbal, looks after the physical well-being

of some of the Premier League's biggest stars.

All the players know that I'm Muslim. And they'll joke about it.

And so for me, I'd much prefer that and that they at least understand

what my way of living is and it's not hidden.

The club itself have catered and been very accommodating.

For example, in the canteen, the chicken is all halal.

So the rest of the players,

it doesn't really make a difference for them.

I'm not asking for any preferential treatment.

All it is, is just a little bit of awareness.

You've got to be aware of it

making sure you've got a prayer room,

making sure you've got halal meat if you need it for the lads

who have to have that type of food.

And that's always very important for you, to make sure

everybody's integrated into the club.

We let everybody free to pray when you want.

But, of course, it cannot be in the middle of a training session,

it cannot be in the middle of a game.

For the rest, everybody's free to believe what he wants

and have the religion he wants. We respect that.

It's quite simple. Clubs have realised that players, staff,

are important assets and if you can get them on side,

then you've got a better chance of them working harder for you.

Come on, speed on the pass.

Keeping players on side? Always a good idea.

However, the business side of the Premier League

can pose challenges for Muslims.

Mamady Sidibe comes from the same mean streets of Paris

that produced Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry.

My first goal in the Premier League,

our first win in the Premier League.

It was a throw in from Rory Delap.

He threw into the box. It was many Aston Villa defence here.

And just touched the ball and it went in.

Let's see that for real, shall we?

'It's Delap, up went Larsson to try to clear.

'Mamady Sidibe!

'It's Big Mama.'

But Mamady's commitment to Islam

means there are some dressing room rituals, like gambling,

that he has to pass on.

Gamble, I never gamble.

In my religion it's forbidden. I can't gamble.

Somes going to make money but I think you lose more money

than anything else. It brings more problems into your family.

And I can live without gambling.

But for Muslim players, who wear their faith on their sleeve,

wearing a betting company's logo on their shirt can be uncomfortable.

I think that's usually out of the hands of the Muslim.

Although he's not allowed to obviously gamble,

I think that's something which is definitely out of the way,

something that you cannot affect really.

We are the players

and all these things is coming from the football club.

It's not about... We can't do about it anything because we go there,

we do our job.

But one thing Muslim players can control

is how they use their wealth.

Arsenal player Abou Diaby has his own charity,

and supports other good causes like this one in London.

-14.

-You're 14? You sure?

THEY LAUGH

We live in a society, and if you like...

everybody are different.

But the differences has to bring people together.

By doing charity activities to help people, I think is a very good thing

to live together.

I have one question,

when are you going to sign for Tottenham Hotspur?

It's a good one!

Lots of Premier League players have their own charitable foundations.

But for Muslims, charity is one of the foundations of their faith.

When you become famous

and you've got the money, you know what you have to do, because as

a Muslim you have to give 2.5%

of your money away, like, every year.

So, does he give away 2.5%?

Yeah, I am a Muslim, I have to.

2.5% off the pitch,

110% on it!

Back in Wigan, Ali Al-Habsi has helped his team get through

to their first ever FA Cup Final.

As the squad heads down to Wembley for the big match,

some unlikely Wigan fans have already arrived.

It's a beautiful set. Imagine when it's full.

This is the Omani FA.

They've flown over to support Ali Al-Habsi,

as he's the captain of their national team.

Because of Ali Al-Habsi,

every single person in Oman will be

following this game and hoping that Wigan will win this game.

In recent years, Wigan may have been one of the smallest clubs

in the Premier League,

but they now have a massive following in the Middle East.

Wigan have got a quarter of their population coming, 23,000 tickets.

The town only has a population of 80,000 people.

There's probably about 15,000 Omanis as well!

Wembley hasn't seen that many Omanis since the 1996 final,

when the Liverpool squad wore those awful white suits.

Ah, no, those were Armanis!

The game here tomorrow is sponsored by a beer company.

The English game has a love affair with booze.

Yet for Muslims, alcohol is forbidden.

As a Muslim, we don't drink alcohol

because of the effects it can have on the body.

Ultimately, we're meant to be in control of our own actions,

so alcohol can influence that.

Greater professionalism in football

has meant that the game is gradually sobering up.

20 years ago you would have players who, after the match,

their idea of refuelling would be ten pints of Guinness.

Now their idea of refuelling

is carefully calibrated bottles of isotonic drinks.

And it's interesting talking to some managers, they think it's great

having Muslim players in because they don't drink.

They still go to the nightclubs, don't worry about that!

So, er, I think generally they drink fruit juices and stuff like that,

so they are capable of training

without having intoxicated their body with alcohol.

Dr Zafar Iqbal has found that, even in the mayhem of victory,

players have been careful to keep alcohol away from him.

We were playing in the Carling Cup Final and after the game,

the players were obviously going to be spraying champagne about,

and they made sure I wasn't in the dressing room, kept me out of it.

And they even went to the extent of removing my clothes

from the dressing room as well.

So it's that kind of understanding and acceptance which, for me,

was very touching and made me feel accepted.

But has the football establishment in England moved with the times?

At Wembley, the Omani FA are collecting a new cup

for their own domestic competition.

But, due to the influx of top Muslim players,

they're not the only ones getting a new trophy.

Traditionally, British football awards champagne

to the Man of the Match.

I was Man of the Match,

but they say to me, we know that you are Muslim

and you don't take alcoholic bottles.

So what did they give him?

Nothing!

Nice(!)

They had the champagne, but when I take them,

I always throw them out because if it's forbidden for me,

I can't also give the champagne to someone else!

There was a famous incident when Yaya Toure

won the Barclays champagne bottle as Man of the Match.

Yaya very politely said, I'm Muslim, I don't drink

and I think it was at some point after that, that Barclays realised

actually Yaya is winning so many Man of the Matches and other

Muslim players are doing so well and winning Man of the Match,

we won't have champagne any more,

we'll just have a sort of vase, bauble, trophy number.

It's the day of the FA Cup Final, between Wigan and Man City.

Wigan are massive underdogs.

Fans arriving at the stadium have come more in hope than expectation.

-We love Ali, we love him!

-We love him.

-He's a Wiganer.

Come on, Wigan!

Yeah, he prays at the start of the game.

As a Wigan fan, everybody looks to the sky anyway

to try and keep out the goals!

He's a good player.

He's got potential for the near future, so...

We got 100% faith in him. The guy's a god.

Meanwhile, on the M6,

a bus is bringing the family and friends of Wigan goalkeeper,

Ali Al-Habsi.

It seems that, even in Oman, the British summer is notorious.

THEY SING:

See? Happy! We're going to win it!

It's a big day for Wigan, but it's just as big back in Oman.

Ali in Oman is like David Beckham over here or Wayne Rooney here,

Ali is over there.

The majority of Muslim people around the world

are very proud of Al-Habsi.

I'm a fan of Arsenal, to be honest with you.

People portray Islam as being extremism

and I think this today shows

that Islam distances itself from all this bad publicity.

Coming off now the M6, junction 38,

we are heading to a nice Arabic restaurant,

for maximum one hour 15 minutes.

Joining them on the bus is Ali's friend, Dave.

He's Wigan through and through.

All Wiganers are known as pie-eaters,

but today Dave's getting a taste for something entirely different -

a rice dish from Yemen called Mandi.

Only thing I need to learn is the words to the songs!

I'm a bit stuck on that, no disrespect.

But it's been fantastic

and now I'm going to have my first ever taste of Arabic food.

There's quite a lot for three people on there.

I'll never starve, put it that way.

I doubt Dave will ever go hungry.

But for Muslim players, food is at the centre of a conflict

between their football and their faith.

Ramadan.

It's a 30-day period that can come at any time of the year

and any time of the season.

Come on, guys, let's pray.

The aim is to get closer to God and to do this,

Muslims don't eat, or even drink, for up to 18 hours a day.

The only issue I've got with regards to religion and football

is when some of the players are obviously fasting through Ramadan

and they're not the player that they could be.

We just hope that it doesn't affect their performance

because if it affects the performance,

it will affect the team and will affect themselves as well.

They're so starved of nutrition and fluids, they could quickly fatigue

and quickly feel faint and disorientated.

You don't want to upset your manager or your team or your club

and also God on the other side.

The controversy surrounding Ramadan is one reason why Riz Rehman

wants to educate the managers of the future.

You never ever know when,

the situation they're going to find themselves in.

As an example, if Alan Pardew at Newcastle gets the sack next week,

Mark Viduka goes into position

and he could inherit a squad with nearly 40% Muslim players.

So if he's had that training and that awareness,

they're better equipped to deal with them.

-Anyone know what Ramadan is?

-Fasting, isn't it?

Yeah, fasting. In the summer now, it's going to be 18 hours. 18 hours.

-For how many days?

-30 days.

Nathan Ellington, he says it doesn't affect him.

But when he was playing for one certain manager,

the manager dropped him as the manager had made his mind up

that cos he's a Muslim, it's going to affect him,

so I'm not going to pick him.

Do you think that's fair? Right or wrong?

It doesn't matter what he's saying, I know that his body wouldn't do it.

I think if I was the manager, I would probably put him on the bench,

play him in the last 30 minutes or something.

You're right. Yeah, of course it's going to affect their play.

I'm not saying they're not human cos they are.

But at least first do talk to him

and if all the tests mean he can run just as much

as someone who is drinking or who is eating as much,

then why put him on the bench?

We had a Muslim and in Ramadan

he used to have to have the morning off.

None of the boys cared.

Even half an hour before the match, he'd be nowhere to be seen

because he'd be in the mosque,

or he'd be outside in the coach service station.

We'd stop, we didn't why we'd stopped,

and we'd see him out on his mat in the middle of the car park, praying.

No-one really cared, you know.

The dilemma for a player during Ramadan is that they have to

be in peak physical condition,

and if they are fasting throughout the day

and it's maybe an evening kick-off

and they've had 12 hours without taking in fluids or foods,

then that is an issue.

Balancing the physical demands of the game

with the religious requirements of Ramadan isn't always easy.

Both players and managers have to make compromises.

Every time I had a manager who was not happy with it, I just tell him,

"Listen, I do it.

"If my performance is still good, then I keep playing.

"If it's bad, then you drop me on the bench and that's it."

They would prefer me to not fast

but they understand it's a special moment for me

and again, they try to accommodate things to make me better.

I make sure, like, on Saturday, on the match day, I'm not fasting.

Also, probably to not give excuses to people

to say, "Look, he's fasting, that's why he's not been good."

But it's nothing to do with that because you have some players

who fast on match days and they are doing very well,

they're playing very well. It's no problem.

Two years ago, Ramadan became part of football folklore.

When Newcastle signed Demba Ba,

the fans got a hungrier striker than they'd bargained for.

However, a lack of goals put a spotlight on his fasting.

People say it's because of Ramadan.

I just said it's because of getting a new team and stuff like this.

I start scoring goals just after Ramadan,

so supporters, fans in England are very good at finding songs.

Newcastle fans affectionately reworked the Depeche Mode song

Just Can't Get Enough into a jubilant chant.

THEY CHANT:

The Ramadan song is absolutely fantastic.

"He scored so many since Ramadan," and to have a chant like that

in the corner at Newcastle United has got to be acceptance.

To be accepted to that level, to me, is fantastic.

The song was chanted all season, outside and inside stadiums.

He scored 17 goals, so it was a bloody long song at the end

because you had to sing every one of those verses 17 times!

Back at Wembley, the mist may not have descended,

but the heavens have opened.

# You'll never notice how much I love you

# So please don't take my sunshine away... #

All together now!

# You are my sunshine... #

Meanwhile, on the bus, the Omani weather forecasters

are about to get some news they hadn't predicted.

# We're going to Wembley Que sera, sera... #

Is it...?

You're joking? He's on the bench?

Ali's not been chosen to play.

He'll sit on the bench as a substitute.

We are so disappointed because we were looking forward

to seeing Ali playing and it's not to be,

but it's the manager's decision, so you have to respect it.

Because of the shocking news we just had,

I don't even feel that I want to go to the game really.

If you've got a faith, I think that's what its main object is,

to help you through life's trials and tribulations.

My faith really guides my life, in everything I do,

in everything I do every day.

It gives me as well a lot of confidence.

'I think faith is important for life.'

If you don't have faith, I think you feel alone really.

Sometimes you get very, very hard time with injury,

or maybe you don't start the games or a competition,

but when you have the belief for yourself from God,

you come in really stronger.

Arriving at the stadium lifts everybody's spirits.

We did the big journey. Now it's the time to enjoy it.

Come on, Wigan!

CHEERING AND CHANTING

THEY CHANT:

'I think we live in a multicultural society full stop today.'

While you'll never get rid of some of the problems that occur,

I think generally in football, we are all blessed to be footballers

and we're all blessed to be together.

# Ali Habsi is a Blue He hates Bolton! #

Look at the people, look how much they like Ali.

You know, how much Ali also likes those people.

So we are happy at the end now.

Ali! Ali! Ali!

People occasionally criticise English football

as being behind the times, but actually it's way ahead of the time,

it's maybe how society really should be.

I'm from Oman! I'm not a Wiganer any more!

Here's my new family!

'When the players come in more in the Premier League,

'I think the people will understand more about Islam.'

Especially with...even with the fans, because the fans, you know,

when they see some Muslim players in big clubs or Premier Leagues,

they start reading about this Islam and everything

and you get more understanding how we are like normal people.

We like to be with everyone.

Inside Wembley, Wigan pull off

one of the biggest FA Cup Final upsets ever.

COMMENTATOR: Added time, three minutes.

There's a corner in towards WATSON!

There is a new name on the old trophy!

And that name is Wigan Athletic!

We won! We won! We won! We won! Come on, Wigan!

I told you we were going to win and we win it - yes!

We went crazy. We were jumping like crazy.

So how does Ali think the people of Oman will be feeling right now?

You can see all the flags in the stadium here in Wembley

and, you know, I'm so, so happy.

CROWD CHEERS

My friends said to me, "You're going on the coach, would you not feel isolated?

"It's a bit strange for you, the only white person."

It doesn't matter.

It just shows you can go to a game and not drink alcohol

and have a better time.

Absolutely overwhelmed by this and I've waited all my life.

Muslim players from abroad like Ali

have thrived in the English Premier League.

But, as yet, no British Muslim has ever walked out on the Wembley turf

as an England player.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

also haven't fielded a Muslim footballer.

Zesh Rehman is one of the few British Muslims

to have broken through to the Premier League.

He believes that, one day,

a British Muslim WILL go one step further and play for England.

When the day comes, when a British Asian kid plays for England,

it will be massive in terms of integration

and opening up the mindsets of people a lot more

because, if one thing can help to create harmony, it's football.

If that day comes, it'll be a monumental occasion.

MAN LEADS PRAYER

These sessions, where young Muslim players can both play and pray,

are one way of encouraging the Muslim stars of the future.

It's very disappointing

that there aren't more home-grown Muslim footballers,

but it also took time for black players to come through

and represent England.

It will happen. The door is open for them to get in.

To have a Muslim lad wearing this would be a remarkable achievement

for someone, and I'd invite them down to my house for some coffee.

There's no doubt that, one day,

a British Muslim will wear the three lions on his shirt

because that is football's greatest strength -

it celebrates raw talent, no matter where you're from

or what you believe.

It doesn't matter about religion, it's football, it's just a game.

There is something heartening about a Muslim fireman from Oman

becoming a hero to a town of Northern pie-eaters.

# Championes! Championes! #

This is the English game, in all its unexpected and unlikely glory.

To paraphrase Jimmy Greaves, it's a funny old game.

During fasting, Luis Suarez,

he'd come to me at sunset and say, "Doc, it's time to eat,"

just like I'd forgotten.

What do you call that Everton player?

Fellaini!

Fellaini. He came here and loved it.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd