Muslim Man United fans to play Palestinian refugees in Ramadan charity tour
Supporters of Manchester United will lead football fans’ trip to Jordan to distribute donations and play friendly matches at camps
Members of the Manchester United Muslim Supporters’ Club (MUMSC) are preparing to travel to Jordan this Ramadan to participate in charity football matches with Palestinian refugee communities.
The group will visit two of the country’s largest Palestinian refugee camps for three days from late February. They will play two friendly matches, distribute donations, share iftars with families and run coaching sessions for orphans.
“After our friendly match against the Chelsea Muslim Supporters’ Group, I started to think about what else we could do,” said Asif Mahmud, the chair of MUMSC. “We’ve got quite big platforms, so I feel like there is a responsibility on us to do more.”
With Ramadan approaching, Mahmud said the group wanted to launch a campaign similar to its 2025 appeal to feed 200 families in Lebanon. It began exploring the possibility of travelling to Syria, Jordan or Lebanon and connecting directly with refugee communities through football while fundraising.
The club is working with the UK-based charity Action for Humanity. One reason MUMSC chose the organisation was its established presence in Jordan, with a team on the ground that had existing relationships with key refugee camps. Mahmud said the group had been advised not to publicly name the camps they will visit, citing safety concerns.
A total of 17 men are confirmed to be travelling, including members from MUMSC, which is leading the initiative, as well as supporters of other clubs, such as Chelsea and Liverpool. The group has set an initial fundraising target of £100,000, which Mahmud said members “fully expect to exceed”.
During the trip, the group plans to spend time with families in the camps, play with the children, break their fast together and distribute cash donations directly. Members will have to fast for a little longer than their friends and families in Manchester, but the difference in daylight between Jordan and Manchester will be less than an hour.
“We want to give the families their own dignity where they can decide what they feel they need to spend that money on,” Mahmud said, “as opposed to just giving them stuff and saying: ‘Here you go — this is what we think you need.’”
Mahmud acknowledged that the visit would be emotionally demanding, particularly given the scale of displacement and loss experienced by many families. “Mentally we’re going to have to be quite tough,” he said.
A significant part of the trip will focus on orphans within the camps. “There are 50 refugee orphans that we’re going to do a big iftar for,” said Mahmud. “One of our members coming with us is a Uefa-licensed coach, and he’s offered to put on some coaching sessions for them too.”
After the trip, the group hopes to continue fundraising to cover each child’s living costs for a year. “Whatever that child’s cost would be for a year for food, school, and their general living expenses, we will cover those costs. It’s not as much as you might think — I’ve been told it can be around £450 to £500,” Mahmud said. He added that all travel costs to Jordan are being covered by the participants themselves.
While football will feature in the visit, Mahmud stressed: “Football is not the answer. Football is not going to solve their problems,” he said.
Instead, he hopes the initiative can lead to something more sustained.
“Football will allow us to connect with them, give them some temporary relief,” he said. “We’re hoping this will become a long-term legacy for us — we’re hoping we can continue this every year.”
