FIFA’s rules regarding press conference language controversy

The controversy surrounding the World Cup, or at least the latest dispute, concerns why responses are not given in Spanish, or more specifically, why Spanish cannot be used at all press events when the tournament is being held in Mexico or in a country such as the United States, which has a large Spanish-speaking population.

Contrary to what has been claimed, there is no ban on asking or answering questions in any particular language. Rather, there is a system of rules governing interpretation that is linked to the teams participating in each match, with English serving as FIFA’s official language.

Of course, it will be possible to ask Luis de la Fuente today or Lionel Scaloni tomorrow questions in Spanish when a team whose official language is Spanish is involved. In those circumstances, Spanish becomes one of the official languages of the press conference alongside English. Spanish is not being singled out, far from it. In fact, most of Gianni Infantino’s press conference was conducted in Spanish.

The interpretation system used for each match is based on the teams involved, their official languages, the languages spoken by the coaches, and English. This system has been in place since the World Cup in Qatar.

In mixed zones, where there is no simultaneous interpretation, there is no restriction on asking or answering questions in any language. The same applies to non-official press conferences, where each federation establishes its own rules. For example, the Spanish national team allows questions in any language, and it is common for Catalan media outlets to ask players questions in Catalan.

FIFA determines the languages available for interpretation according to the host country and the teams, players, and coaches involved. In the case of Brazil and Morocco, interpretation was provided in English, Arabic, Italian (for Carlo Ancelotti), French, and Portuguese. Questions could be asked in any of those languages.

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