Spoken language on the pitch

[sonithewoni]

I'm not a big footy fan and rarely watch it. DP does. I just commented that I find it rather arrogant of the English speaking world that the French, German and Italians on the pitch all speak English to each other.

If I was in a meeting mediating between a French and German company I would speak both their languages.

AIBU to think this is a bit odd? My chap thinks it's completely right?

What do you mean? If they only speak their native language and English, and not their opponents' language, wouldn't it be obvious to speak English to each other?

I suppose it makes more sense to have a lingua franca rather than having to either spend more time having the same conversation twice or three times over or finding a referee team who can speak both languages for each match. And I suppose English is more widely spoken as a second language, certainly in Europe? (Not sure on the stats of that)

A lot of them play or have played for Emglish clubs so will have learnt/used English there (as well as at school of course)

I just find it odd that in another country they're expected to speak English when no one on the pitch is English. Who is assuming they all speak English as a second language?

I'm not being arsey English here :-) just find it odd that it seems to be expected. Pity the poor sods who don't speak it and have no clue what the ref is on about.

I stress....I don't watch footy! This is probably the most sensible question I've asked DP for the last few weeks :-)

who is assuming they all speak english as a second language

Well if theyre speaking english to each other, then they er, do!

Do you want translators on the pitch?

I wonder what language Ronaldo and Bale were speaking in yesterday when they had their little chat...

It's the chosen language for communication.

It's the most common shares language.

Otherwise you'd need a ref that could speak Italian, Russian, Icelandic, Croation...oh and Welsh...

Also most teams wouldn't want a red speaking to a player in French infront of a German player who wouldn't understand.

Plus there's only 90 minutes to do this all in...!

Ref not red. Apols.

Bale doesn't speak any Spanish so I guess he was speaking english.

I struggle with Ronaldos English though. But how he understood Alex Ferguson must be mind boggling.

I accept that English is widely spoken but I was poking the bear that is the DP and asked the question. From the responses I can see there are more bears out there :-)

Most domestic clubs will provide language classes for players arriving from other countries. Some managers (Van Gaal for instance) insist on all players gaining a working level of English.

Ineedmore.....do you not think though on occasion the ref is speaking English in front of another player who doesn't understand, where ever they were born or play? I do appreciate that translation is an issue in a game but feel for the poor buggers who don't understand what's being said. Not their fault....they're playing in Europe and shouldn't be expected to speak English.

I do get that not everyone will be able to understand....I'm not stupid :-) but am a lass and feel for the ones missing out

There's no way you would get to the level of playing in the Euro for your national side if you couldn't understand the referee. No manager would risk that, it would be crazy.

But the refs don't necessarily speak English! According to dh who works in football one of each ref team needs English

LOL I just saw this on fb. Stop speaking English dammit!!!

Ronaldo angry

I'm not sure about UEFA but for FIFA selection (world cup) referees must be "proficient" in English.
Also there is a lot of body language, gestures, flag moments etc.
see semi pro referee DP I do listen when you jabber on

I'm sure the ref is speaking to some players without fluent English. But to be fair he only needs to communicate the rules.

So in that sense it's the same as a toddler understanding 10 or 20 commands.

And not that it makes a difference to your point but I'd say at least 9 times out of 10 the player(s) in question know exactly why they're being spoken to!