Hibernian goalkeeper to miss Celtic match over Yom Kippur clash

Ofir Marciano has been allowed to miss Hibernian’s Scottish Premier League clash against Celtic due to it taking place on Yom Kippur.

The Israeli international goalkeeper asked manager Neil Lennon for his permission to miss the match, which he granted.

Lennon said: “Ofir came to me a couple of months ago about it, to be fair, it’s just one of those things – you have to respect a player’s faith. That’s more important than football.

“It is the full day of fasting and for them it is a bit like their Christmas Day, if you want to call it that, and we will lose him for the game against Celtic.”

The 27-year-old, who in an earlier interview, spoke how he “was close to his religion”, was an unused substitute in Hibs’ 1-0 win at Ross County yesterday.