Brazilian soccer referees familiarized themselves with English curse words ahead of the recent FIFA World Cup clash between England and the USA.
The FIFA rule book states that using "offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures" is cause for a yellow card. Two yellow cards lead to ejection from the game.
If a player is sent off the pitch, he cannot be replaced by a substitute, which leaves his team a player down.
To prepare for last Saturday's match – which ended in a 1-1 stalemate – referees brushed up on swear words, insults and terms of abuse used on both sides of the Atlantic.
"We have to learn what kind of words the players say," said referee's assistant Altemir Hausmann, in an interview with Brazil's Globo TV Sports. "All players swear and we know we will hear a few."
Officials had good reason for this quick course in translation. Some players have a reputation for colourful language. English striker Wayne Rooney, for example, was described by the New York Times as "a walking thesaurus."
A few days before the World Cup game, Rooney received a stern rebuke for his tirade of bad language during a warm-up match.
Speaking to Associated Press, England captain Steven Gerrard praised Rooney's skills, saying, "We dont want to take Waynes fire away from him because thats the type of player he is, always on the edge.
"Wayne himself just has to make sure he controls his frustrations in the right manner – and takes it out on the opposition and not the referees."
Although FIFA referees are only required to converse in English, the teams in the 2010 World Cup represent an estimated 17 languages.
14 June 2010
Go back to June 2010
