"We are not ruling out a clause to make Barça players learn Catalan"

BarcelonaJust a few meters from the ruins of the Born district, destroyed in 1714—an archaeological site of great symbolic importance—three top-level football executives are chatting. Elena Fort, the Barça representative, beams after the long election night in which Joan Laporta was elected. "We will make sure to continue taking care of the Catalan language," she remarks, chatting with Xavi Andreu, director of institutional relations at Espanyol, and Nacho Mas-Bagà, from Girona. Andrés, who He remains angry about the refereeing decision suffered by Espanyol in Mallorca. He recalls how their official statements "were made in Catalan." The three have just given a talk at the International Symposium on Minority Languages ​​and Sgôr Football, organized by Plataforma per la Llengua.

"There's still work to be done. Clubs can work on it, but we're part of a changing society where the use of Catalan generates debate," says Andreu. Mas-Bagà recalls how Girona carefully cultivates and prioritizes Catalan in all its social media communications, even if it means receiving criticism from fans outside Catalonia. All three admit that more always needs to be done and that the limited use of Catalan in youth football teams is a concern. Elena Fort, in fact, is self-critical, stating that they haven't "done enough" to defend Catalan.

In the debate, the three representatives of the First Division clubs emphasized the need for positive role models like Aitana Bonmatí, who prioritized Catalan in her Ballon d'Or acceptance speeches. "These moments are key; they demonstrate that we can speak Catalan without prejudice. But we also have other important examples that need to be highlighted, such as Fermín López, from Andalusia, who learned it at La Masia and uses it publicly." So far, Barça's coach, Hansi Flick, hasn't taken a significant step forward with Catalan, unlike what has happened in Girona, where Míchel, from Madrid, has become a role model. It's a sincere gesture, as Míchel asks his staff to speak to him in Catalan and offers advice on how to improve his use of the language.

Òscar Escuder, president of the Platform for the Catalan Language, asked those present if they were considering following Bayern Munich's example, which includes a clause requiring players arriving from outside Catalonia to learn German. Fort recalled that Barça has always encouraged players born outside Catalonia to learn Catalan, and assured them that they value the idea of ​​having a clause of this kind. A proposal that at Barça "is not ruled out," unlike at Espanyol and Girona. Bayern Munich provides German lessons for all its players, and sometimes shares content on social media where it can be seen.

From Valencia to Mallorca

The conference organized by the Platform for the Language didn't focus solely on the Catalan language and the three local professional clubs. A panel discussion followed with Jelske Dijkstra, who spoke about how Heerenveen is promoting the Frisian language; Cristóbal Tripiana, on the use of Valencian at Villarreal; Sergiusz Bober, discussing how the Polish clubs Ruch Chorzów and Arka Gdynia are supporting Silesian and Caixubi; and Maria de Lluc Muñoz, talking about Atlético Baleares and the Catalan language. Different cases and different situations.

"In a match against Valencia the lineups are going to be in Castellà, which is going to provoke the queixes of many fans, who are going to serve the motto #Vilarealenvalencià and are going to get the club to announce them again in Valencia. Damn all, the use of the language is limited to petits details, as if we are one folkloric thing, with the hymn", is queixava Tripiana. "Now we have only one local player, Pau Navarro, who conducts interviews in Valencian, but on the networks he only uses Spanish," he added.

"Clubs like Arka have begun to show interest in the local language, Caixubio, a language that has always suffered in the shadow of Polish and German. In February 2024, a committee of 15 people was created to promote the language and culture in the club with the motto «Kaszëbë snaczi Arka", which means 'Arka is Caixubi.' And on March 19, Caixubi Culture Day, they play in a special jersey." Around 100,000 people still speak this Slavic language in northern Poland, and more than a million speak Silesian in the south, where Ruch Chorzów has given its mascot a Silesian name and joined the initiative. Ingo Volckmann, from the Balearic Islands, is a German who says he bought the club because it was offered to him in a nightclub. He has no sensitivity towards the language or the club's anti-fascist tradition, but luckily the club has joined the Correllengua program, twinned with Catalan, along with 14 other Mallorcan clubs," says Maria de Lluc Muñoz, who admits that the first step the Palma club should take is to change its name, since officially it is still "Baleares 'La Jornada'." Steffan Roberts and Craig Willis, from the European Center for Minority Issues, have cited the case of how the Welsh Football Association has been promoting the use of Welsh.

The day will continue this Tuesday with another session of talks featuring Lana St. Leger speaking about grassroots football in Wales; Rubén Cepeda, CEO of Júpiter; Ramon Ortiz, head of the social area at CE Europa; and Oleguer Presas, who will discuss the El Cuartel Football School project in Sabadell. Following this, the role of media and sports communication in minority languages ​​will be addressed, with Yuri Carrazoni, deputy director of [unspecified organization], focusing on Galician. Noso Diario; Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, university professor specializing in Welsh television; Gemma Mallorca, women's football commentator on 3Cat, and Miquel Agut, sports journalist at RAC1.