Football : le défi de la diversité linguistique

From a sociolinguistic perspective, football clubs are an example of a multilingual professional environment in which non-linguistic means play an important role, where competence levels vary greatly and which is dominated by the primary goal of success for the team. In such a context, communication is an asset and a challenge for both individual players and the club collectively. Interestingly, the players in their different positions, the managers and the referees do not all share the same issues and strategies. This empirical study, investigating fifty individuals in eleven clubs in three countries, reveals the main tendencies of a complex multilingual practice. However, many questions still remain to be answered in this promising, yet remarkably scarcely studied research field.