Jumu’ah mubarak! The Friday Fill-in is The Athletic Ummah’s weekly news roundup. If you have a story or athlete you’d like to pitch for it, email us at TheAthleticUmmah@gmail.com.
The Headlines
Asisat Oshoala joins Bay FC from FC Barcelona Femení: Nigeria women’s national team player Asisat Oshoala has swapped Spain for the United States, joining NWSL club Bay FC on a two-year deal with an option for an additional year. Oshoala, who comes from a Muslim family, departs Barcelona Femení as the club’s fourth highest goalscorer, with 117 goals in 162 appearances. During her time in Spain, the 29-year-old won 14 team trophies, including two trebles.
Lewis Hamilton to join Ferrari’s Formula 1 team in 2025: Formula 1 (F1) legend Lewis Hamilton will make a sensational move to the Scuderia Ferrari for the 2025 season, the Italian F1 team confirmed on Thursday, Feb. 1. Hamilton, who’s a seven-time world champion, will drive for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team this year before joining Ferrari next season on a multi-year deal. The 39-year-old said leaving Mercedes, who he joined in 2013, “was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make,” but “the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge.”
NHL players to return to Olympics in 2026 and 2030: The National Hockey League (NHL) will be sending players to compete in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics, Commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Friday, Feb. 2. “The international composition of National Hockey League rosters is unparalleled, and NHL players take great pride in representing their countries,” Bettman said in a press conference. 2026 will mark the first time in more than a decade that NHL players will be allowed to compete in the Olympics; previously, they’ve competed in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014.
F1 rejects Andretti and Cadillac’s joint-bid: After a six-month review, F1 has formally rejected Andretti and Cadillac’s joint-bid to enter the racing championship in 2025 or 2026, they announced on Wednesday, Jan. 31. “Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the Championship,” F1 wrote in a statement. The joint-bid likely would’ve relied on a Renault engine deal in the short-term, though General Motors, which owns Cadillac, has registered to join F1 as an engine manufacturer from 2028 onward; and F1 said Andretti has a good chance of joining that year if GM follows through on their plans.
What You Might’ve Missed
Since Israel launched their horrendous military offensive on Gaza in October 2023, several professional athletes have taken to social media, city councils and beyond, to express their solidarity with oppressed Palestinians while calling out Israel for actions some experts and academics deem as genocidal.
But despite Israel’s brutality — which includes killing more than 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza — many Israeli national teams, clubs and athletes are still being allowed to compete in professional sporting competitions, with little to no repercussions for their nation’s cruelty.
This is the case for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, an Israeli basketball team. The club has been allowed to compete freely and weekly in the 2023-24 edition of the EuroLeague, the most prestigious club competition in European basketball — despite all but one of their 25 games taking place after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
In fact, the only schedule changes they’ve faced were a postponement of their Oct. 12, 2023 game against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, and their home matches being moved to Belgrade, Serbia, for the rest of the season.
But while the higher ups at the EuroLeague may be too scared to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv in the same way they banned Russian teams in 2022, fans of other teams have not had such fear — and that was on full display on Thursday, Feb. 1, when Spanish club Saski Baskonia hosted the Israeli team.
Throughout the game, nearly 1,000 Baskonia fans waved Palestinian flags to protest Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
A section of the fans also unfurled a “Free Palestine” banner; and many of the 8,057 supporters in attendance shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli slogans, from tip-off to full-time.
Some of the slogans heard include “Murderer Israel,” “Maccabi out of Europe” and “Free Palestine.” It was also reported that some fans chanted “Genocide” and “Genocider Israel” every time Maccabi Tel Aviv gained possession of the ball.
Clips of the chants and banner were widely shared on social media. Many Palestinians and Palestine supporters praised the club’s supporters for their passionate display of solidarity — something which very few fanbases in the West have done.
The game also went well for Baskonia on the court. The Spanish club won 92-82, putting them ahead of their Israeli opponents in the EuroLeague table with 11 games to go.
Muslimah Athlete of the Week
The group stage of the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) wrapped up this week, and for some of Europe’s top women’s football teams, their futures in the competition came right down to the wire.
One such club was BK Häcken. In 5 matches heading into the final Group Dgame, the Wasps had a 2-2-1 record (wins-draws-losses), including a 0-0 draw with 2021 champion Chelsea FC Women and a 2-1 win over 2023 Copa de la Reina finalist Real Madrid Femenino.
Their 8 points were good for 2nd in the group, behind group leaders Chelsea. Those 8 points were also the most they had ever accumulated in a UWCL group stage (their previous best was 3 points), and they were giving themselves a real shot at qualifying out of the group stage for the first time ever.
But breathing down their necks was Paris FC. The French club boasted a 2-1-2 record going into the final matchday, good for 7 points — just one behind the 2nd-placed Wasps. Though they hadn’t been able to best BK Häcken in their two meetings, they were matching the Swedish club nearly tit-for-tat up until matchday six, and they still had an outside chance of slipping by BK Häcken and into the final round of 16 qualification spot.
BK Häcken knew they needed a near-perfect away performance against Real Madrid to ensure qualification; and fortunately for the Swedes, they had a talented 20-year-old Muslimah striker named Rusul Rosa Kafaji to help them achieve that goal.
In the 63rd minute of their final group stage game, BK Häcken worked a silky through ball into Real Madrid’s box. Attacker Monica Allonia Jusu Bah chased after the ball and, despite the lack of space and a tight angle, delivered a good first-time cross to the centre of Real Madrid’s box.
Sensing the building attack, Kafaji started to make her way into Real Madrid’s box while slipping away from her two markers. The 20-year-old, now eying the ball, picked up steam and attacked the cross with a strong header. The ball arched into the goal, striking the top of the netting, and Kafaji ran off to celebrate.
The goal was Kafaji’s team-high third goal in the UWCL, and her second against Real Madrid in as many games. It was also one of BK Häcken’s only successful attempts at goal — the Swedish club registered just 3 shots on target, with Kafaji taking 2 of them.
The one goal was enough in the end. BK Häcken secured the 1-0 win despite a generally lacklustre team effort, and as a result, were through to UWCL round of 16 for the first time since a double-round-robin group stage was implemented in 2021.
Although Kafaji wasn’t recognized as the official Player of the Match — that went to her teammate Anna Anvegård — it’s hard to argue against her being one of the game’s top performers. On top of scoring the game-winner, the Swedish international of Iraqi descent completed a game-high 3 dribbles (with a 100% dribble success rate); and finished the match with a 7.6 rating on football data website FotMob, the joint-highest on her team.
As a football fan who loves watching Muslim players succeed in this sport, I’m really glad to see a Muslimah like Kafaji balling on the biggest stage in women’s club football — not just because of the talent she has, but also because she seems to be a great role model for young Muslimah athletes.
In a 2021 interview with Swedish sports newspaper Sportbladet, a then-17-year-old Kafaji proudly told a reporter that she follows the five pillars of Islam, and that her faith is a big part of her personality.
“I feel like I couldn’t have done anything without God,” she said in Swedish. “I feel that I am being protected, that I am given hope.”
A quote like that is a breath of fresh air to hear, especially from such a young, talented athlete like Kafaji. I’ve heard stories about how easy it is for some Muslim athletes — especially in the West — to hide parts of their faith for fear of not being accepted by the non-Muslim-majority public. So to see such a young, female athlete hold onto her deen so strongly and unashamedly is really encouraging.
Kafaji’s story and recent performance have made me a fan, and I can’t wait to see her continue to ball in the knockout rounds of the UWCL. For her solid showing in a do-or-die game against Real Madrid, she’s our Muslimah Athlete of the Week.
Headline image credit: Bay FC