I chuckle when I think what those little heated conversations with players must be like.
Russian player: держал!
Ref: What?
Egyptian player: لا ، لقد سقط عن قصد
Ref: Huh?
*both players stare at ref*
Ref: Um, you both get yellow cards.
I chuckle when I think what those little heated conversations with players must be like.
Russian player: держал!
Ref: What?
Egyptian player: لا ، لقد سقط عن قصد
Ref: Huh?
*both players stare at ref*
Ref: Um, you both get yellow cards.
At this level, you have to be fluent in English. Therefore, many if not most, referees are at least bilingual speaking their language and also English.
Don't they have hand signals and whistles to express every important referee command anyhow? And flags, and chalk to draw the spot for a free kick, etc.
The only thing an American football ref has to say verbally is which player # committed a penalty.
"FIFA has changed its language requirements for referees on the FIFA Referee list, a couple of times in recent years.
For many years, there was no requirement that a referee speak anything besides his native language. Then, FIFA made it a matter of strong desire that a FIFA Referee or Assistant Referee be functional in one of FIFA's main languages. Later, FIFA required that a FIFA official speak English and another of FIFA's languages.
Lately, it has been recognized that for the sake of fairness and impartiality on the field, the officials should not use the language of one team when that language is not likely to be understood by the other team. English has become standard unless the officials happen to be fluent in the language that is used by both teams.
As a matter of pride, many FIFA Referees (and others) try to become fluent in multiple languages, even if they do not speak them on the field."
said: Jim Gordon, Retired soccer ref (~3500 assorted matches), retired referee instructor...
cheers.
Cottonshirt wrote:
"FIFA has changed its language requirements for referees on the FIFA Referee list, a couple of times in recent years.
For many years, there was no requirement that a referee speak anything besides his native language. Then, FIFA made it a matter of strong desire that a FIFA Referee or Assistant Referee be functional in one of FIFA's main languages. Later, FIFA required that a FIFA official speak English and another of FIFA's languages.
Lately, it has been recognized that for the sake of fairness and impartiality on the field, the officials should not use the language of one team when that language is not likely to be understood by the other team. English has become standard unless the officials happen to be fluent in the language that is used by both teams.
As a matter of pride, many FIFA Referees (and others) try to become fluent in multiple languages, even if they do not speak them on the field."
said: Jim Gordon, Retired soccer ref (~3500 assorted matches), retired referee instructor...
cheers.
That is pretty fascinating.
I figured the pool of qualified refs who speak Korean and Arabic was pretty small...
Teams also likely have interpreters present in case anything intricate needs to be explained. Most likely working between English, Spanish or French and the team's national language if it's not one of those three.
theJeff wrote:
That is pretty fascinating.
I figured the pool of qualified refs who speak Korean and Arabic was pretty small...
Actually there are quite a few Arabic speakers as it is the main language in a number of countries. Finding Korean speakers would be harder as there are a lot less Korean speakers in the world.
At the very least I'd learn common curse words and insults in every language on the pitch.
English is the common language. You see the players speaking it when they complain.
theJeff wrote:
I chuckle when I think what those little heated conversations with players must be like.
Russian player: держал!
Ref: What?
Egyptian player: لا ، لقد سقط عن قصد
Ref: Huh?
*both players stare at ref*
Ref: Um, you both get yellow cards.
That's funny...
However, almost all the refs at this level speak MORE than 2 languages.
English, Spanish, and their native language or something like German.
All the players at this level speak multiple languages.
bloviating wrote:
English is the common language. You see the players speaking it when they complain.
No, that would be French.
(Get it? "Pardon my French...")
Most people in the world are multilingual, soccer refs are no exception
What do you call someone who speaks three languages? - trilingual
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? - bilingual
What do you call someone who speaks one language? - American
Most international football (soccer) players have spent several years outside their home country in the big national leagues, often learning one or two additional languages besides their own. Maybe with the exception of some Latin American players choosing to go to Spain or Portugal, but it's rare over a full carreer.
1. English, Spanish, French and German are the official languages of FIFA. English is the official language for minutes, correspondence and announcements.
2. Members are responsible for translations into the language of their Ccountry.
3. English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic and Portuguese are the official languages at the Congress. Qualified interpreters shall translate into these languages. Delegates may speak in their mother tongue if they ensure interpretation into one of the official Congress languages by a qualified interpreter.
4. The Statutes, Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes, the Standing Orders of the Congress, decisions and announcements of FIFA shall be published in the four official languages. If there is any divergence in the wording, the English text is authoritative.
Yup. It’s all about English with international stuff. So many of these World Cup players play on club teams with teammates from multiple countries. I think English is the common denominator.
Hardloper wrote:
Most people in the world are multilingual, soccer refs are no exception
Source?