Picture Credit: Twitter/@FCBayernEN
Senegalese footballer Sadio Mane who recently moved to Germany from England to play for Bayern Munich refused to hold up a glass of beer while posing for Bayern Munich’s sponsored team photoshoot. Mane was the two of 31 players who did not have a glass of Paulaner beer in the team photo. Apart from Mane, Moroccan defender Noussair Mazraoui was also empty-handed.
While Mazraoui was barely noticeable as he was standing in the second row of the photo shoot, Mane could be clearly seen holding down his both hands together in the front row while the rest six players could be seen visibly holding up their glasses of beer. As the forward stood out from the rest of the crowd, people wondered about the reason behind it.
Notably, the ever-smiling Mane is an openly practicing Muslim and his religion forbids the consumption or association with alcohol of any form which is presumably why he was without a beer in the photo. The same was with Noussair Mazraoui who was also empty-handed. Also, this is not the first time Mane has made headlines for his belief.
In February after winning the Carabao Cup with Liverpool, Mane had politely asked teammate Takumi Minamino to not spray champagne while standing next to him during the celebrations, a request which the Japanese international respectfully obliged.
Why were the players posing with a glass of beer?
Bayern Munich have sponsorship deals with Paulaner which is a German brewery, established in 1634 in Munich. Both Munich-based institutions have established a relationship over the years and the annual photoshoot is one of the ways they celebrate their alliance. So, for the same, the German club released pictures from their traditional photo shoot. The photoshoot featured all members of the Bayern Munich first team in traditional German outfits called Lederhosen, posing in orderly sitting and standing positions.
Coming to Mane's performance so far for Munich, the Senegalese has had a blistering start having scored four goals after five competitive matches for the club.
