It adds Spanish-language interpretation after criticism over restrictions on Spanish-speaking journalists and players.

In the first days of the 2026 World Cup, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) effectively forced players to avoid using Spanish during press conferences.

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“The situation became apparent during the pre-match press conferences ahead of the Brazil-Morocco match. Both Vinicius Junior and Achraf Hakimi received questions from Spanish-speaking journalists, but organizers intervened to prevent those questions from being asked in Spanish due to the absence of interpreters authorized for that language,” outlet El Colombiano recalled.

“The instruction surprised several reporters, especially because the tournament is being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the latter being a country whose official language is Spanish,” it added.

One of the most widely discussed incidents on the issue occurred Saturday, when a FIFA moderator required Brazilian player Vinicius and a Spanish journalist to conduct their conversation through official translation.

A similar situation occurred during an exchange between a Mexican journalist and Achraf Hakimi, a Moroccan player born in Spain who is accustomed to speaking Spanish.

“The controversy did not end there, as a similar episode was recorded during Frenkie de Jong’s press conference before the Netherlands-Japan match. A journalist began his question in Spanish but had to rephrase it in English following instructions from organizers,” El Colombiano reported.

The restrictions have generated criticism, and the measure has been difficult to understand at a World Cup that has Mexico as one of its hosts and where millions of fans follow the tournament in Spanish.

On Monday, in response to the angry backlash against the restriction on interactions in Spanish, FIFA was forced to include Spanish among the languages available for interpretation at all press conferences.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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