UEFA recruits eight new languages for Training Ground website
Football fever is spreading in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup and to add to the excitement, UEFA has added eight new languages to its training and development website in a bid to make it more accessible to fans and coaches worldwide.
‘UEFA Training Ground’ was launched in 2007. Originally, content was only offered through in English, but now French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish and Ukrainian languages have also been added. The affiliated site UEFA.com, which was relaunched in January this year, also received the multilingual treatment when its available languages were increased to twelve by the addition of Polish and Ukrainian, ahead of the EURO 2012 qualifying round draw.
Given the potential and vast resources that football has for tackling social exclusion, the launch of the multilingual grassroots training website has certainly been a boost to this cause and now many fans can access this valuable resource in their native language. The press release says that multilingual videos, skills master classes, drills and tactical advice from top coaches are now available.
So if you need help with le 4-4-2, or want to learn how to do El Sombrero de Messi (or the Messi loop) then look no further. With its expansion into eight new languages, the website is an innovative tool for fans and coaches worldwide. But not only this, it is also a valuable resource for linguists with its multilingual content – and there are plans to add further languages in the future.
UEFA Grassroots Day takes place in Madrid on 19 May 2010 and will feature prize giving ceremonies, promotion of its worldwide educational programme and international conferences. It will be attended by ambassadors of the scheme such as former Real Madrid player Luís Figo and the various interpreters needed to make such an event a success.
The international elements to Football are evident, but with the welcome addition of new languages to the UEFA websites, John Motson may even go as far to say that now it is truly a multilingual event!
Sources: UEFA.com; The Guardian
