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April 30, 2006
Germany: Muslim Imams To Play Against Christian Priests At Soccer
According to the Times, next weekend will see an unusual game of seven-a-side soccer taking place in Berlin. The soccer World Cup will be kicking off in several cities across Germany on June 9, and next weekend's match is a sort of pre-season fixture.
The game was going to happen on a Friday, but the imams objected because Friday is the main prayer-day for Muslims. The organiser is a UK expatriate, Rev Christopher Jage-Bowler, who wants to have a Jewish rabbi to be the referee. 44-year old Jage-Bowler said: "It's been difficult to find a rabbi who will referee on the Sabbath, but we are trusting in God."
The game is tied in with a UK government workshop on racism in soccer, and black players will be at the British Embassy to talk about ways of involving more Muslims in the game.
The newspaper Tagesspiegel caused controversy in February when it displayed a cartoon in which the Iranian soccer team was depicted with bombs strapped around them (see picture).
The Times notes that a recent match in Leicester, Britain, was held for charity, with Christian and Islamic clergy pitted against each other. The Christians lost miserably, despite being loaned some more athletic imams in the second half. The imams won 6-0. A game also held by under-12s saw the Christians lose to the Muslims.
In Berlin, Imam Harun Bulat of the Sehitlik Mosque, which has a large Turkish following, agreed to Jage-Bowler's request to organise a game.
On March 21 in Amsterdam, a team of gay men had a football match against Muslims. Again, the Muslims slaughtered the opposition 4-0.
Do not expect the team of Christian clergy to win. There is something about Islam's attitudes which do not require too much consideration of those deemed to be the "opposition". Maybe if Christianity taught its members to forget about "loving their enemy" they would be more focused on winning at all costs.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 30, 2006 6:50 PM
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