The Swedish football club Brommapojkarna (BP) has introduced a contentious language policy that demands all players at the club converse only in Swedish, or find they are ineligible for team selection.
Despite some public criticism, the chairperson of BP, Ola Danhard told The Local that: “this is a non-issue”. Danhard pointed out that given that almost all of the BP squad is home grown, with the club’s renowned youth team providing 17 of the first-team’s 23 members, and therefore the language ruling was merely a formality.
Danhard confirmed that a vote by the BP board led to the implementation of the exclusively-Swedish language usage policy within the club, which will extend from on the pitch into the changing rooms. “It is important for the collective that everyone in the team speaks the same language,” Danhard stated.
“In the changing room if you are going to use a language then it is much nicer if it is a language that everybody understands,” said Danhard, adding that most players are from around the Stockholm area. He also stated that although some team members are from immigrant families, all are multilingual and can speak Swedish. “Like I said, this is a non-issue. We should all speak Swedish within the club.”
Brommapojkarna is widely recognised as having the best youth set-up in Sweden and possibly the largest overall in all of Europe; with some 250 teams turning out each weekend.
it IS their right to do so…although I personally wouldn’t like it!
I do not agree with this. Why ban a team or a person if they do not speak the same language? This is not a debate that words are needed, this is sports, words are definitely not needed.
Can understand to an extent… if we did this in the UK… methinks we’d run into more than a bit of trouble.
This is outrageous. This can not be overlooked. How can anyone agree to that ?
thank you very much. do not agree with this
Yes is easier to ask somebody to speak your language that is to learn english… wich is international btw… I do not agree with this!
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