William Saliba has been one of France’s most dependable players in Euro 2024 and ensured they didn’t concede any goal from open play in the group stages. The Arsenal man is making the centre-back position his own for Le Bleues and is reaping rewards for his devotion to the cause.
Speaking of devotion, some fans have recently started digging for which religion the Frenchman actually follows. The 23-year-old defender isn’t that proactive on social media to give an example of his faith and tends to keep his personal life quite private along with his loved ones.
To answer the queries of many inquisitive fans, Saliba is actually a practicing Muslim. He was born to a Lebanese father and a Cameroonian mother in Bondy (France). William has been very discreet about his family life and that is probably because both his parents have now passed away. His mother is thought to have passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic and his father died a few years before that.
Despite the setbacks, Saliba has remained strong and ambitious in his footballing career. Interestingly, his family surname Saliba (pronounced Salibi in Arabic) is historically a Christian family name of Arabic origin. The name’s meaning is a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but it appears that the 23-year-old Arsenal man is not a practicing Christian.
With the majority of the popular in Lebanon being practicing Muslims, it’s quite possible that Saliba took to Islam after his father. He isn’t one to show off his devotion to Islam as much as some other footballers, but is still quite devoted into respecting the norms of his religion.
The 23-year-old has actually been seen outside Mosques in London quite a few times over the years. During his injury spell towards the end of the 2022/23 season at Arsenal, Saliba was pictured outside the London Colney Masjid. He was involved in the taraweeh prayers during the holy month of Ramadan (23 March-21 April) at the masjid before a fan was able to snap a picture with the Frenchman after the ordeal.
The centre-back was injured on March 16 last year during the Europa League Round of 16 clash against Sporting Lisbon. Arsenal’s Premier League title charge suffered a major blow without the centre-back, as they suffered some bad losses and allowed Manchester City to win the title at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Despite his injuries, Saliba ensured that he fulfilled his religious commitments and make regular trips to the mosque during the period. The Frenchman has actually even given quite a few ‘hints’ that he is a Muslim based on his pre-match rituals for Arsenal.
That is because the camera has caught him saying an Islamic prayer before he started some matches for Arsenal. The 23-year-old has never really spoken much in interviews about his devotion to his religion and appears to keep that aspect of his life as private as possible.
He has quite a few teammates in the Arsenal squad who are Muslim, including Thomas Partey and Jakub Kiwior as well. Saliba is definitely turning out to be the pride of the French Muslim community with his excellent performances at the international stage and will hope to take France all the way into winning the Euro 2024 title in July.