Everyday Practices if Football and the Month of Ramadan

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Participation in football fan club activities which includes organizing the public screening of international matches, coordinating local matches, putting up posters and banners related to football and other local events is a major occupation of young men in Kozhikode, Kerala. However in the month of Ramadan these fan clubs do not engage in their usual activities. The tension between religious obligations and the serious business of leisure reveal two different codes of masculinity and gender relations in the region. Activities expected out of young men during the month of Ramadan and those activities developed through football have similarities and differences. The paper will look into how the religious duties disrupt the continuities of football fan club activities in the month of Ramadan and how important are spheres of religion and sport in young men’s everyday life in Kozhikode. Through a reading of these activities I will discuss the issues of public space, community formation, and conflicts within modernity.