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World Cup Referee Learning English Curse Words To Better Understand Impending Abuse

Jun 10, 2010, 4:00 PM UTC

â†µSee Wayne Rooney, this is why we can't have nice things. Or, in this case, this is why we can't say not-so-nice things.â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥England’s players have been warned by the controversial Brazilian referee who will take charge of Saturday’s World Cup opener against the United States that he is learning English swear words in order to know whether he is being abused by players.â†µâ†µYou knew it was just a matter of time before some fallout came after Rooney’s outburst toward the official in England’s friendly earlier this week. You don’t just say “f--- you” to an official without some repercussions.â†µâ†µLow and behold, Carlos Simon – already embroiled in his own bit of World Cup controversy – has been learning a list of obscenities in English in an effort to better understand the players in Saturday’s match, in the event that their language becomes abusive. Let’s face it, there’s a good chance that’s going to happen, so it behooves Simon and his assistant referees to know what the players are saying. Or, most likely, hollering.â†µ

â†µâ†µHow many dirty words are they learning? If you know anything about the English language, you’d immediately think seven. (Note, you surely know what that links to and surely know it’s NSFW language, thank you George Carlin, you damn genius). No, it’s not seven. They’re focusing on 20 different words. Twenty! I’m not even sure I know 20 different swear words. And I read the internet all the time.â†µ

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â†µFIFA announced that it has not specifically instructed the officials to learn these 20 curse words, but the organization does demand that all World Cup referees have a strong knowledge of English. Urban Dictionary, it seems, is not yet required reading for FIFA referees.â†µ

â†µâ†µOf course, in this World Cup, there’s a suspicion of impropriety. For cursing? Sonsabitches.â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Fifa have already prevented the English referee Howard Webb, who will take charge of Spain’s first game against Switzerland, from speaking to the England players about the potential offences that referees are cracking down against. In that instance the governing body’s “integrity unit” ruled that it could give the England team an unfair advantage.â†µâ†µAn unfair advantage? You’d think the English side would be smart enough not to call the referee a bleeping bleep. Then again, we are talking about Wayne bleeping Rooney here.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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