A special event to celebrate Eid was hosted at Wembley Stadium this month, following the end of the Ramadan as part of the FA’s award winning ‘Faith and Football Series’.
Our series has welcomed thousands of worshippers from all major faiths of the country to Wembley Stadium over the years to celebrate the deep connection between football and faith.
Known as the ‘Festival of the breaking of the fast’, Eid took place on Friday 4 April with over 700 people attending the event in the stadium’s Bobby Moore Suite from across the country, including fans, coaches, referees, parents, volunteers, clubs and local organisations in and around Brent as well as local councillors and the Mayor of Brent, Tariq Dar MBE.
The event began with opening prayers from reciter Madinah Javed and a welcome from our host Remona Aly.
Our director of equality, diversity and inclusion Yasir Mirza then gave a keynote speech before video messages from FA Chair Debbie Hewitt MBE and a selection of England players such as Kyle Walker, Tino Livramento, Dean Henderson and Dom Solanke.
Attendees then saw a showcase presentation from the Muslim Sports Foundation with Sport England featuring Asma Ajaz Ali (MSF Head of Participation and Communities) and Shimul Haider (Sport England) to talk about their partnership to make a difference to Muslims across the country who play sport.
We then heard from representatives of two professional clubs in the shape of Preston North End’s ‘North End Crescent’ and Manchester City’s ‘Blue Crescent’ with Mohammed Patel and Mohammed Ullah respectively.
"I think just the community feel and the fact the Football Association are putting on something for Muslim fans is absolutely incredible," said Ullah.
"The sense of community with families and kids running about, it's just a brilliant event.
A musical performance from Fursaan followed before our main panel discussion featured former England striker Emile Heskey, Layla Banaras (Birmingham City FC), Marsha Malik (Solihull Moors), Iqra Ismail (Player, coach and project coordinator at QPR) and Osman Ahmed (England Para Football physio lead).
"It only takes one player to break through, which would open that door which would hopefully keep open and let everyone else go far," said Heskey.
"We all love our faiths, it keeps us plugging away and pushing for what we believe is right within football because it's our game."
It was then down to the famous Wembley pitch for sunset prayer and prayers back inside with Sultan Ahmed (above), before our final showcase presentation from Nujum Sport featuring spokesperson Imam Wasim.
Dishoom’s distinctive chai tea was available to guests throughout the evening via their tea stations, with the evening’s meal served courtesy of caterers Taste of Lahore.
The event also featured the men’s and women’s FA Cup trophies with exhibitions from Exploring Islam and the Islamophobia Awareness Month teams on display as well as the England E-Lions pod featuring a games station for youngsters being available for entertainment.
