The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has proposed that Arabic be made one of the Federation’s official languages.
The proposal, which was announced on Saturday to coincide with the United Nations’ World Arabic Language Day and the conclusion of the inaugural FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, which brought together 23 national teams from across the Middle East and Arab world, is the result of long-term discussions with Qatari and MENA stakeholders.
The four FIFA languages prior to the proposal were English, French, German, and Spanish.
A statement from FIFA said “in recognition of the importance of the Arabic language, which is spoken not only by the 450 million people that live in the more than 20 Arabic-speaking countries but also by millions of Arabs worldwide, the FIFA President will propose that Arabic becomes an official language of FIFA.”
This year, FIFA hosted the first Arab Cup event under its control in Qatar, ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022, which will also be held in the Arabian Gulf state next year. The Arab Cup was held to assess Qatar’s readiness to host the future world event.
