AS Saint-Etienne are in a relegation battle in Ligue 1. In order to keep the class, coach Dupraz has an extraordinary request to many players.
AS Saint-Etienne manager Pascal Dupraz is said to have asked his Muslim players not to fast during Ramadan after last Friday’s 6-2 Ligue 1 defeat in Lorient. That reports the L’Equipe.
Saint-Etienne is in the middle of a relegation battle with seven games to go before the end of the season. The team is currently in 18th place, which would mean going into relegation against a second division team. The lead over the first direct relegation zone, rank 19, is only one point.
About two-thirds of the AS team are Muslim players. During Ramadan, which runs from April 2nd to May 1st this year, Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sunset. Dupraz apparently sees this as a reason why his team recently lost clearly after a 2-0 lead at relegation competitor Lorient – apparently also blames the lack of fitness of many of his players because of Ramadan.
Dupraz has publicly criticized his players in the past, most notably Tunisia’s captain Wahab Khazri. He is now expected to make changes within the squad to try and keep his team in Ligue 1.
Source: Stern
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