Kardanov: during Olympic Games, Sochi to open prayer rooms for Muslim athletes

At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Muslim athletes will be able to perform their religious duties in a specially dedicated prayer rooms. This was reported by Askerbiy Kardanov, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory.

"Every Olympic village will have two prayer rooms for Muslims: for men and for women," the "Caucasian Knot" was informed by Askerbiy Kardanov.

According to the Mufti, the prayer rooms will be designed for athletes only. Meanwhile, Askerbiy Kardanov has noted that the SAM has no information on the number of Muslim athletes.

The Mufti from the SAM also expresses his concern about the lack of places to perform the Muslim ritual prayer in the centre of Sochi and directly at the Olympic venues.

"In Sochi, there is no mosque or house for praying. Thus, we express our concern about the fact that, since Muslims need to pray five times a day, the time of prayer may occur when people are not able to reach at least their hotel rooms. It would be nice to build such prayer rooms also for the audience, for example, under the stands. We want to discuss this issue with the Olympic Committee," Askerbiy Kardanov has emphasized.