France captain Kylian Mbappe reportedly prevented the national team’s Under 21 players from going on strike during Ramadan this year.
The Islamic holiday has proved to be a source of contention in French football after the nation’s Football Federation banned interruptions in games for Muslim players to break their fast last month.
Following on from that, it appears that issues arose with France’s national team setup that could only be resolved by an intervention from senior captain Mbappe.
According to Get Football News France, unlike the senior Muslim players in France’s national teams, some youth players opted not to delay the start of their fast in the interest of the March international break.
Upon arriving at France’s national training centre, Clairefontaine, they informed coaching staff that they intended to begin their fast immediately.
Kylian Mbappe reportedly had to intervene and prevent a strike within France’s national sides
Reports claim youth players grew unsettled with national team policies during Ramadan
The reports claim that some players had considered protesting at Under 21 manager Sylvain Ripoll’s office and were strongly opting towards a strike.
It’s also suggested that some players had considered skipping lunch-time in order to show their commitment to the fast.
News of the unrest amongst the youth players had reached the French FA and eventually caused senior team caption Mbappe to be sent over and discuss the issue with the players.
After the meeting, several players opted against fasting, while others decided to fast only on certain days.
The French FA president, Philippe Diallo, later suggested that the lack of a clear rule across all teams may have contributed to the confusion in the national side.
Mbappe has only had the national team armband for a matter of months, after taking over from Hugo Lloris in March this year.
The 24-year-old has scored 38 goals in 68 appearances for the national side, including a hat-trick in the recent World Cup final.
Mbappe was made France’s national team captain after Hugo Lloris’ international retirement
Earlier this year, Nantes manager Antoine Kombouare controversially dropped one of his players for refusing to eat and drink on match day, in another controversy during Ramadan.
The French club’s boss left defender Jaouen Hadjam out of his squad in their 3-0 loss against Reims last month.
The 20-year-old Hadjam, who has made nine appearances since joining from second-tier side Paris FC in January, refused to break his Ramadan fast on match day for religious reasons.
Kombouare, 59, who managed Paris Saint-Germain between 2009 and 2011, revealed Hadjam’s team-mates agreed to break their fast so they could play against Will Still’s Reims.
