Football Zealots

Berlin is going to host what i think will be one of the most amusing soccer matches of the year. According to Times Online, Muslim imams and Christian priests will be going head to head in a pre-World Cup friendly match. And the referee will be, you guessed it, a Jewish rabbi.

The match is supposed to be part of a British-sponsored workshop on racism in football. Sounds good to me! But get this, the game should be this Saturday (today i believe), but things are a bit confused because it'll end up clashing with the Jewish Sabbath.

“It’s been difficult to find a rabbi who will referee on the Sabbath,” sighs the
Rev Christopher Jage-Bowler, “but we are trusting in God.”

LOL! Ah, how i laughed when i read that line. You gotta love religion.

On a side note, something i read in that article i linked to above was a bit off. In trying to figure out a day for the game, Friday was ruled out because it was the Muslims' "day of prayer". Very considerate of the officials to think of that, but umm, contradictory to what some Muslims may mistakenly believe, there's no Sabbath-like concept in Islam.

Our "day of prayer" is every day. The only time Muslims have to close down businesses is during the Friday prayer itself, which is usually around an hour long. Any work or play can be done before or after it.

So yeah, just wanted to clear that up. Can't wait for the game! It should be starting sometime now, because of the time difference between the UAE and Germany. I'm rooting for the imams. What'll they be called, The Crescents? The Turbans? The Bushy Beards? Hey, ya never know!