Malaysian fans of English Premier League club Manchester United are upset after local Muslim clerics warned against wearing the team’s jersey because of the devil emblem. Muslim leaders ruled that crosses, alcohol brands and devils on shirts are insults to Allah and should not be worn, The Age reports.
Premier League clubs are very popular in Malaysia and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook were flooded with comments from local fans following the ruling.
“Maybe the religious leaders are just fans of Liverpool?” quipped one supporter on Twitter, the Sydney Morning Herald says.
Other football shirts deemed unacceptable include those of Brazil, Portugal, Serbia, Barcelona and Norway because they feature a cross.
”There is no excuse for wearing such garments because it means, as a Muslim, you are idolising the symbol of another religion,” said local Mufti Datuk Nooh Gadot.
The clerics agreed there was no “fatwa”, or religious edict, but that one was not needed when it was clearly wrong for Muslims to wear such a garment.
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