President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated today that a change will be brought about where activities on sports fields will be paused during prayer time, and that the government is working to make arrangements to facilitate prayers to be performed in those areas.

During the weekly press conferences held every Monday, the President said that it has become a habit among Maldivians to continue playing on sports fields even as prayer time comes to an end.

And so, the President said that as Maldives is Muslim nation, societal actions are to be built upon that reality and acted on.

The President went on to say that the decision has been made to include prayer rooms in sports complexes and sports buildings developed by the government, with it now being in the implementation stage.

There are currently no places to pray at the Maafannu Stadium and the Male' Sports Complex (Kulhivaru Ekuveni), places where many people go to play sports.

According to President Muizzu, work to establish modern prayer facilities in those places will begin soon. With that, the President said that the opportunity to play sports without missing any prayer will facilitated.

As per the President, this change will make it so that all sports activities will be paused for about 20 minutes during prayer times.

"For example, there are no such places to play at the Male' Sports Complex. Or at the Maafannu Stadium. And so, in order to make it so that no one misses their prayers while they are playing, prayer rooms with modern facilities will be established, along with all sports activities being paused for 20 minutes during prayer time. These changes will be brought about," said President Muizzu.

Criticism on social media circulates from time to time regarding sports classes being held at the track area and the Maafannu Stadium during prayer times.