German athletic giant Adidas has launched a new campaign in Sweden ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, featuring tips for Muslim athletes undergoing fasting.
Adidas in Sweden announced the new campaign, named ‘From Sunrise to Sunset’, in which the company will give tips and advice to Muslim athletes wishing to train during Ramadan while also maintaining an all-day fast.
“Despite the growing interest in training during Ramadan, the information is fragmented. Many Muslims fast during Ramadan and want to hold their training, but don’t really know how to do it,” brand communications manager Redwaan Hossain said, the Swedish business magazine Résumé reports.
According to the magazine, there are around a million Muslims living in Sweden — which only has a total population of just over 10 million — and the campaign has attracted several high-profile partners, including the Swedish Football Association, the Swedish Basketball Association, and the Marathon Group.
The campaign coincides with changing demographics in Sweden, with the country having accepted many immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries and handing out 1.2 million residency permits to foreigners in the span of just ten years.
The topic of Islam in Sweden has also been at the centre of recent protests orchestrated by Danish-Swedish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Plaudan, who has been engaging in demonstrations in which he or his supporter have burned copies of the Qur’an — resulting in riots across the country.
Earlier this year in January, Paludan burned another copy of the Islamic holy book in front of the Turkish embassy, angering the Turkish government and increasing tensions between Sweden and Turkey over Sweden’s proposed amission into the NATO military alliance.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated: “As long as you allow my holy book, the Qur’an, to be burned and torn apart, we will not say yes to your entry into NATO.”
Seemingly bowing to this pressure, the police in Stockholm later banned any demonstrations in which a copy of the Qu’ran is planned on being burned, officially citing security concerns.