Olympics Meet Ramadan: Muslim Communities Navigate Faith During Italian Games

As the Olympic and Paralympic Games unfold in Italy during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Muslim communities face varying challenges in observing their faith. While Milan offers numerous mosques and interfaith gatherings, mountain town Cortina provides limited prayer spaces for visiting Muslims.

The Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in Italy this year are occurring during Ramadan, the sacred Muslim month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, spiritual contemplation, and community gatherings. This timing presents unique challenges and opportunities for Muslim visitors and residents in the predominantly Catholic nation.

The two Olympic venues present contrasting experiences for Muslim worshippers. Milan, known for its diverse and international character, features numerous Islamic centers and mosques throughout the metropolitan area where faithful can congregate for prayers. Several of these locations are extending invitations to people of all backgrounds to join iftar meals, the evening gatherings when Muslims end their daily fast.

However, in the mountainous region surrounding Cortina d’Ampezzo, finding appropriate worship spaces proves more difficult. Despite these obstacles, local Muslim residents have gradually established their own religious communities in recent years.

The Al-Wahid mosque in Milan has extended an open invitation throughout Ramadan, welcoming visitors to participate in fast-breaking ceremonies and evening worship services. Located near the popular Navigli area, this mosque has held official recognition from city authorities as a legitimate house of worship since 2000.

Each Friday, which serves as the primary congregational prayer day in Islamic tradition, brings increased attendance to local mosques. Throughout recent Ramadan seasons, Al-Wahid has hosted representatives from municipal government, community organizations, Catholic Church leadership, and various faith communities during these Friday gatherings. Such interfaith iftar celebrations have gained popularity worldwide, from Muslim-majority nations like Indonesia and Pakistan to countries where Muslims represent smaller populations, including Australia and the United States.

While these open community gatherings weren’t designed specifically for Olympic attendees, they continue weekly until March 14, which falls one day before the Paralympic Games conclude.

“The Olympics are a symbolic moment,” Imam Yahya Pallavicini, vice president of a national Islamic religious association known by its acronym COREIS, told The Associated Press. “Sport, culture and art can help reduce prejudice and fear toward a particular culture or religious identity.”

During one recent evening on February 20, several dozen Muslim worshippers gathered closely together under decorative hanging lights. They awaited the traditional call to prayer before ending their fast with dates served on elegant silver trays. Following this ritual, participants sat together on the floor sharing lentil dishes, rice, meat, and water before concluding with communal prayers.

Research conducted in 2025 by ISMU, a Milan-based migration studies organization, indicates nearly 400,000 Muslims reside in Lombardy, the Italian region containing the highest immigrant population and including Milan, the nation’s second-largest city. The study identifies Moroccan and Egyptian communities as the largest Muslim groups in the area.

According to Pallavicini, the broader Muslim community also encompasses individuals from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bosnia, and numerous other countries.

In Cortina, the second Olympic host city situated approximately 1,220 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level, eight Muslim individuals interviewed by the AP described significant difficulties locating prayer facilities.

This exclusive mountain resort, nicknamed the Queen of the Dolomites, houses slightly more than 5,000 residents. Roughly half the population belongs to Italy’s Ladin ethnic minority, whose ancestors established the mountain settlement of Anpezo one thousand years ago.

Rabah Boubegtiten, who came to work as a driver for Qatari security during the Olympics, described his journey to Brunico — where he discovered the closest mosque — as taking more than an hour on challenging roads. He located the facility through social media after unsuccessful Google searches.

“There are many nationalities here, many Muslims from various countries: Algerians, Tunisians, other Africans, and many Qataris, because we are working with them during the Winter Olympic Games. They look everywhere to find a place to pray, but it’s almost impossible,” Boubegtiten, 52, who lives in Paris and is originally from Algeria, said. “For us, it’s really difficult. Sometimes, even if we want to come, we simply can’t.”

While interfaith prayer rooms exist at athlete residential facilities throughout the Games venues, these spaces remain off-limits to general public access.

Throughout other parts of the Dolomites region, residents have created their own worship areas. Local Muslims report adequate religious facilities around Brunico, which serves approximately 17,000 people, along with halal meat markets and specialty stores catering to the Muslim population.

Approximately 120 worshippers gathered for Friday prayers in Brunico, seated closely together on the floor in a curtain-enclosed room while listening to sermons delivered in Italian. Following services, attendees were asked to contribute donations toward covering rental costs and utility expenses for the space.

“In Italy, Ramadan is not an impossible thing. It is possible to practice Ramadan, it’s possible to pray,” said Kreem Wardi, whose father is Muslim from Morocco and mother is from Italy and Catholic. “It is not easy to find a mosque everywhere in Italy. But in this area, we are fine for now, inshallah.”

Wardi, a 20-year-old student, observed that in Brunico it remains unusual to invite non-Muslims to iftar dinners or share Ramadan customs with the broader community.

“They maybe don’t want to talk about Islam. It’s not that they hate us Muslims, but it’s just that they are maybe not interested, so we don’t want to force it upon them,” he explained.

Although the overwhelming majority of Italy’s 59 million citizens received Catholic baptism, approximately three-quarters currently identify with that faith, while significantly fewer participate in regular church attendance. Muslims total 1.7 million people, representing more than 30% of the foreign resident population for the first time, according to ISMU’s July research findings.

Immigration patterns over the past decade have fueled right-wing, anti-immigrant political movements across parts of Europe. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, promised stricter migration policies upon taking office in 2022, aiming to discourage potential refugees from paying smugglers for dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossings.

While many of Italy’s current Muslim residents are immigrants, Pallavicini noted in Milan that growing numbers include second-generation Italian Muslims, religious converts, and people born within Italy’s borders.

When the evening call to prayer finally resonated throughout the Al-Wahid mosque near 7 p.m., men and women prostrated themselves in synchronized worship, their foreheads touching the floor.

Amina Croce, 28, participated in these prayers. Born to Italian Catholic parents who embraced Islam and raised her within the Muslim faith, she described the mosque as having “been a very significant part of who I am.”

Beyond religious practice, Croce views her faith as integral to Europe’s historical narrative.

“We believe this diversity is part of Italy’s broader cultural heritage,” said Croce, who directs the youth division of COREIS. “It may still be underappreciated, but we hope it will be recognized more in the future.”