JEDDAH, 31 August 2007 — As the new football season began on Aug. 23, football fans in the Western Region are calling on the Saudi Youth Welfare to have match kickoffs at around 30 minutes after the Makkah prayer, instead of the current 20 minutes.

Fans say adding a few extra minutes would enable them to have enough time to perform evening prayers at local mosques and then return home to watch complete matches.

An official from the Saudi Football Federation said football matches normally begin 20 minutes after Isha prayers in Makkah — this is done with an aim of ensuring no one misses prayers.

“It might be difficult to add 10 more minutes but we will look into it during our next executive meeting,” he added.

During the month of Ramadan, matches start at 10:15 p.m. due to the extra night prayers.

Matches that are not aired on TV kick off after the Isha prayers in whichever city they take place in.

For football fans in the Eastern Province, airing matches 20 minutes after Makkah’s Isha prayer is not a problem. In the Eastern Province, Isha prayer is performed 50 minutes earlier than Makkah and so fans are able to pray and return home well before kickoff. Isha in the Central Province is performed around 30 minutes before Makkah and so fans in both provinces wish matches would start earlier so they could finish early. However, they respect the concept as it takes into consideration the interests of football fans across the Kingdom.

Sports reporters also wish games would begin early, something that would allow them to write their articles before newspaper deadlines.

Deputy President at the Saudi Presidency of Youth Welfare Mansour Al-Khudairi said that because Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country, praying is “top priority.” “That is why we have given 20 minutes. This is enough time. It would be hard to delay it or make it early because of the other obligations that players have such as flights that they need to catch. We’ve made sure the time satisfy all regions,” he said, adding, “It might be difficult to add ten more minutes but we will look into it during our next executive meeting.”

However, fans in the Western Province say they are left in predicament. Either they go to mosque to pray and miss the beginning of matches or they delay the Isha prayer until halftime or until after the match.

Fans in Jeddah said delaying kickoffs by 10 minutes would not be difficult. “They always run games 20 minutes after the Isha prayer in Makkah, regardless of whether Isha is at 8p.m. or 9p.m. So if the timing is flexible why can’t we run it 30 minutes after the prayer,” said Abdulaziz Ahmad, a Saudi football fan in his 50s.

“The youth may miss Isha,” said Essam Salim, 40. “Football in Saudi Arabia is the love of people’s lives and enjoys top priority in the hearts of many young Saudis. Is this what we want to teach our younger generations,” he said, adding, if changes are made, then people would watch and enjoy games without worrying or feeling guilty that they’ve missed prayers.

“The time spent between Athan and Iqama for Isha prayers in any mosque is around 20 minutes. When one adds to that, the time spent going to and from mosque, then it is approximately 30 minutes,” said Muhammad Salih. “If this delay is not implemented, then we would continue to miss from 10 to 20 minutes at least from the first half and it is displeasing not only for youth but even the older generation, who still enjoy watching football,” he added.

Salih believes that fans, who go to stadiums to watch matches, do not pray until they return home at around 11 p.m. and later. “They fear losing their places. Stadiums are packed,” said Salih.

Amro Hussain, 19, said, “It takes us time to find a good spot, I hope God forgives me but there is no time to pray and return to watch the match.” Khalid Al-Dheghaither agreed. “If you go to pray then you end up missing a lot of the first half. It’s always frustrating.” Sheikh Sultan announces the call to prayer at a mosque in east Jeddah. “Delaying the game would be great idea since 30 percent of men who regularly attend prayers do not come to mosque when there is a game,” he said.