The FA Guide To Grassroots Football Around Fixtures And Religious Observance

GUIDANCE TO GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL AROUND FIXTURES AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

As part of The Football Association’s commitment to providing equal opportunities for all to participate in football, Rule B5 was amended at the 2005 AGM in order to include all religions.

RULE B5 FOOTBALL & RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

(a) A Participant cannot be compelled to play football on bona fide occasions where religious observance precludes such activity, save where the Participant: (i) has consented to do so on such occasions; or (ii) is registered as a player under written contract, which shall be taken as consent to play on such occasions unless otherwise provided for in the contract. (b) Annually, when planning programmes, Competitions shall define and notify agreed dates of such occasions

GUIDANCE

In order to support you with your planning this guidance has been written to provide you with the most significant dates for religious observance together with some information on them. It is not intended that you avoid all these dates, and the list is by no means exhaustive, but you are advised to consult with your clubs and communities as to the most relevant dates to consider for your locality as this will vary considerably. A calendar of these dates will be provided by The FA annually. You should note that some religions work on a lunar calendar (10/11 months) rather than the Gregorian (12 months) which means dates will vary from year to year. In addition some dates can only be confirmed by the sighting of the moon so are sometimes expressed as two or three dates and confirmed nearer the time of the festival. Some dates also have alternative spellings.

For further information please find the ‘Faith and Football Calendar’ for the 2019 / 2020 season here .