This year Ramadan falls in February and March, to be precise from Tuesday 17 February until Thursday 19 March 2026. That means that the Ajax players who take part in Ramadan will have a different eating, drinking and sleeping pattern during that period. But the elite sports programme simply continues. Redegeld has been responsible since January 2025 for guiding players in nutrition and recovery policy with the first team.
Challenge for the body
In the weeks leading up to Ramadan, his team already works intensively towards this period. "We are busy identifying who will take part and we speak with them. We ask the question: how do you experience it yourself? That may be the most important thing to me. It comes from faith, so I am very curious how they experience it themselves. Because everyone does it in their own way; one person is very strict and follows all the prescribed rules as closely as possible. Another might still have a meal on a matchday, for example. There are all sorts of variations and we always want to have that clear beforehand. Based on that, we can help. Because that it is a challenge for the body speaks for itself."
There is plenty of understanding within the club, but the programme for the entire squad remains the same. "That makes it tough. Nothing in the regular schedule is adjusted: training times and eating moments remain the same. That means they have to adapt their own lifestyle rules to the existing situation." However, adjustments are made on an individual level for the players who follow Ramadan. "We support them as well as possible, for example by providing meals at the times when they are allowed to eat and by allowing them to arrive at the club slightly later to get more sleep."
Nutritional advice
Ajax provide the players who take part in the fasting period with nutritional advice and meal plans. "What do you eat in the morning and how do you maintain your energy until training, which in most cases is at the end of the morning? What do you eat in the evening and what should you focus on to restore balance in your body? In addition, they naturally eat a lot with family and we want to think along with them as much as possible so they can make the right choices during those important moments."
"We make sure the portions (morning and evening) are larger than normal because they are the only meals in a day," Redegeld continues. "But we also focus more on fibre-rich products because these release energy gradually and keep you feeling full for longer. Every morning you have to build up a buffer for the day ahead. And protein is also important. Normally we aim for four or five portions of protein per day. Several of those moments now disappear, which means they have to significantly increase their protein intake at the moments when they are allowed to eat or drink. If you don't do that, you lose muscle mass and the risk of injuries increases."
What kind of meals do the players eat? "Think of a large bowl of oatmeal with fruit and honey. One player might like to fry a few eggs with it, another prefers a bowl of quark. That's personal preference. But that would be a good breakfast, combined with enough water. If you eat that at half past five in the morning, you will have more energy at eleven o’clock than if you eat white bread with chocolate sprinkles, for example. Fast sugars and fatty products are something we really advise against. Because shortly afterwards you can experience an energy dip. You want to avoid that anyway, but certainly during this period."
Matchday
In the sports world, the nutritional strategy 'carb loading' is used to build up carbohydrates in the lead-up to a peak moment so that the body’s energy reserves are optimised. In this way, fatigue during a match is delayed. "We normally apply that principle in the lead-up to matches, the day before a game. For the Ramadan players that is even more challenging now. Look at Ajax – Sparta (21:00): then the meals on Friday morning, Friday evening and Saturday morning are extremely important. In this case they were still able to eat something before the match, but if you look at FC Groningen away, the match kicked off at 16:30. That means breakfast at five or half past five in the morning is the last meal they take in. You can imagine that the meals on the day before become even more important."
"Besides nutrition, sleep is the second important theme for elite athletes during Ramadan," says Redegeld. "Because of the adjusted rhythm around praying and eating, the sleep rhythm is also different from what they are used to. In addition, it is often a socially beautiful but also busy period. This means that both late evenings and early mornings are often not spent in bed, which disrupts the usual sleep rhythm. We also try to take that into account, by allowing players to sleep a little longer after their morning meal and by encouraging the possibility of a power nap in the afternoon."
How players feel during Ramadan differs from person to person. "How the body responds varies," Redegeld continues. "One person sometimes struggles with fasting and for another it is the lack of sleep that causes a suboptimal feeling on the pitch. Especially with those we know might find it tough, we make a clear plan in advance. For example, we sometimes practise fasting for one or two days beforehand, so the body can get used to it a little. Ultimately the most important thing remains that the players clearly indicate how they feel each day. If someone arrives at the club in the morning and he or she does not feel well, we want to know as quickly as possible. That way we can anticipate in time before any potential problems arise."
Admiration
"You know what it is," he says. "One day in which your balance is disrupted is not so bad, but thirty days in a row… Then it is possible that in the third or fourth week you could suffer an injury. Or become ill. That is what we want to prevent above all. We want to keep them fit during those weeks by supporting the players wherever we can. Because it is simply a fact that fasting and the disrupted sleep rhythm increase the physical strain on the body."
Above all, Redegeld has admiration for everyone who takes part in the holy fasting month for Muslims. "I think that is impressive. Especially when they combine the lifestyle rules of Ramadan with the lifestyle rules of elite sport. That is not nothing and I have a lot of respect for that."
