The heartfelt reason Brighton star hides his knees in match photos
Brighton’s Jaouen Hadjam has been getting noticed for a unique reason—he blurs out his knees and thighs in his match photos because of his religious beliefs.
Hadjam joined the Seagulls this summer from Swiss club Young Boys and has already played seven times, scoring his first Premier League goal in a 2-0 win against Sunderland. The young left-back has impressed under manager Fabian Hurzeler and recently caught attention on Instagram.
The Algeria international, who has 373,000 followers, shares lots of action shots playing for Brighton. But you might notice all his photos, even big matches against Manchester United and Manchester City, have his knees blurred out.
Fans were curious about this, and on TikTok, the ‘What the Kit’ page explained that as a Muslim, Hadjam follows the idea of ‘Awrah’—an Islamic teaching about modesty that says a man’s body should be covered from the navel to the knees, including the thighs.
This can be tricky for Muslim footballers who wear shorts, but Hadjam uses compression shorts to help. Ipswich defender Issa Diop does this too. Still, not every Muslim player follows this—stars like Mo Salah, Riyad Mahrez, Karim Benzema, and Rayan Cherki don’t cover their knees, so it’s really a personal choice.
The Premier League has become more understanding of Islamic practices in recent years. Many Muslim players fast during the holy month of Ramadan, avoiding food and drink during daylight. Since 2021, players are allowed to take a short break during games starting around 5:30 pm on Saturdays and 4:30 pm on Sundays to break their fast.
One memorable moment was when Leicester City paused their match against Crystal Palace about 30 minutes in to let players Wesley Fofana and Cheikhou Kouyaté eat and drink. Fofana, now with Chelsea, thanked the Premier League, Crystal Palace, goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, and his former teammates for making that possible. He said on social media, “That’s what makes football wonderful.”