Leeds have condemned the “unexpected and disappointing” booing from followers during a scheduled pause for gamers to break their Ramadan quick in final weekend’s defeat to Man City – however set out a lot of “mitigating circumstances” of their defence.
Despite messages showing on the Elland Road huge display during the sport with Manchester City confirming that the match was being paused to enable the gamers to break their quick, loud boos were heard during the 78-second delay.
Another break will likely be held during Sunday’s FA Cup tie with Norwich, with Leeds’ Joel Piroe anticipated to take part.
The membership has tried to head off a repeat by calling on followers to “respect” these gamers breaking their quick, however in a prolonged assertion – which didn’t embrace an specific apology – listed 4 “mitigating circumstances” surrounding the unique incident.
The 4 mitigations cited had been:
- In their assertion, 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 mentioned: “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 membership defined: “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 lastly, Leeds acknowledged: “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 assertion 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 a part of Ramadan fasting, observers are obliged to keep away from all meals and drink (together with water) from daybreak till sundown.
