- Tunisia goalkeeper Mouez Hassen reportedly fakes injury to break fast
- The Nice goalie pretended in their warm up matches against Portugal and Turkey
- The Tunisia Football Federation are yet to make a statement on the allegation
Tunisia's national goalkeeper Mouez Hassen faked injuries during World Cup training matches so his teammates could break their Ramadan fasts.
Hassen went down early in the second half of Tunisia's warm up games against Portugal and Turkey coinciding with sunset, which is when Ramadan fasting ends.
On both occasions, his teammates had to rush to the sidelines to eat dates and drink water before getting back to the field again.
During their first match against Portugal, the Nice shoot-stopper went down in the 58th-minute with an injury.
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Just six minutes later, the North African team who are in England's group at the World Cup scored and the game finished 2-2.
In a similar fashion against the Turks, Hassen lay flat on his back in the 49th-minute, allowing his team-mates to leave the pitch for food and water as the match would also finish 2-2.
Tunisian sports reporters were the first to point out that Hassen's injuries both coincided with with the method of breaking fast.
Souhail Khmira who is a freelance writer tweeted that there is 'an agreement' between the players and their goalkeeper to break their fast in this way.
It does not appear that Turkey, another mostly Muslim nation, had any such arrangement in place when they played Tunisia.
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The controversial goalkeeper has since been teased on Twitter, including by fellow footballer Chaker Alhadhur, who joked: "It's all right now, we know you were pretending."
Hassen responded as he tweeted "I was injured bruv" alongside laughing emojis.
He was not punished during either game by the on-field officials, and is unlikely to face any subsequent disciplinary actions because proving the injury was not genuine is virtually impossible.
The Tunisian football federation has yet to comment on the timing of the two injury breaks.
Muslims around the world are observing Ramadan at the moment. It is a month of self-discipline where they refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and having intercourse from sunrise to sunset.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Super Eagle captain Mikel Obi gave reasons why the Nigerian team had a bad first half against England.
The former Chelsea star said that the Three Lions played with an extra man in defence which made it difficult to break them down in the match.
Super Eagles Score 1:1 with DR Congo Team Simba in Port Harcout - on Naij.com TV
Source: Naija.ng