Antoine Kombouaré responds on leaving Jaouen Hadjam out of the Nantes squad for refusing to break Ramadan | OneFootball

Nantes’ head coach Antoine Kombouaré has sparked controversy over his handling of Algeria international left-back Jaouen Hadjam (20). The latter has been pulled out of the squad due to host Reims on Sunday for Ligue 1 gameweek 29 because he had refused his coach’s request to break his fast during Ramadan. Kombouaré has reminded that he had established a rule during his coaching career – he would not field a player fasting on a match day.

Reportedly, Hadjam has accepted to break his fast for away games, but not home fixtures. Therefore, he is not expected to feature for Nantes’ season-defining Coupe de France semi-final against Lyon on Wednesday at La Beaujoire. “It’s his choice and I respect it. This is not a sanction, but I have a framework“, Kombouaré said to L’Equipe. “During the week, there are no problems with fasting players. I’m ready to support them if needed. We know it’s not an easy time. But on gameday, you should not fast. And those who fast are not in the squad. I don’t want them to pick an injury.“

The former PSG boss added that the other Muslim players in the Nantes’ squad had accepted to break their Ramadan fast in order to play against Reims. The Will Still-led side eventually humbled Les Canaris 3-0. Earlier in the week, the French FA confirmed, in an email sent out to officials, that games would not be paused in the country to allow Muslim players to break their fast.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval