Leroy Sane has earned a reputation for being among the most fearsome wingers in European football. The German winger’s speed, incisiveness and clinical nature have helped him win many major trophies in his career and he’s still going strong as a regular member of the Bayern Munich squad.
The 28-year-old has already had quite a decorated career, having played and won many titles with Manchester City before also winning multiple Bundesliga titles with Bayern. However, some people also talk about Sane’s religious beliefs and whether he is really a Muslim man.
Leroy was born with sporting blood flourishing in his veins. That is because his father Souleymane Sane was actually a Senegal international footballer who spent much of his career in Germany. Souleymane played for SC Freiburg in the 1980s, and even won the Bundesliga 2 top-scorer award in the 1987/88 season (21 goals). He would also go on to play for Austrian heavyweights Lausanne-Sport and LASK in his career – as well as making 55 appearances for Senegal in which he scored 29 times.
It was during his time in Germany that Souleymane met Regina Weber – a popular German individual rhythmic gymnast. She earned her reputation in the 1994 Olympics, where she won the bronze medal at the all-around gymnastic category. Leroy, whose middle name is ‘Aziz’ (A Muslim name) – was therefore born to a Muslim father and Christian mother – but has decided to practice the religion of Islam.
In fact, Souleymane – who later transitioned into a football coach after retiring as a player – played a key role in Leroy’s development. A former teammate of Sane at Schalke’s under-19 level, Pascal Itter, told Goal: “Leroy’s father was very involved in his son’s life. For example when we were having breakfast the day before a game, he’d tell Leroy: ‘Come on. Let’s go home,’”.
Leroy clearly has a lot of respect for his parents, but he isn’t really the most conventional Muslim footballers out there. For one, he’s almost never been caught on camera doing a prayer or anything before matches as he gears himself up. Moreover, there have been something he’s done that has rattled quite a few Muslim fans too.
For one, Sane has a number of tattoos on his body – which isn’t exactly something out of the ordinary. For modern footballers, it’s almost normal to get something special inked on their body.
With that being said, getting tattoos is strictly prohibited in Islam – as it involves changing the creation of Allah. Not just that, but Sane has sometimes been seen in public events where he is drinking alcohol and came under some fire after being seen drinking beer with his Bayern Munich teammates a few years ago. That is because consuming alcohol or any intoxicating substances is haram in Islam and looked down upon by many.
Hence it’s clear that Sane doesn’t really pay much attention to these beliefs and is definitely a very open-minded Muslim. He seems to keep his religious side quite personal and puts focus on ensuring that fans remember him for his footballing ability rather than trying to get any attention for how he behaves as a Muslim man.
