When World Cup players argue with the ref, what language do they use?

[CTyankee]

I was watching a Portuguese team player arguing with the ref over a call the ref had made and wondered if there is an "official" language of the WC that they use. Hubby says the refs come from a lot of different countries, but I thought they were South African.

If they are South African, wouldn't they use English, since more people prolly speak that instead of Afrikaans...:shrug:

[MissHoneychurch]

1. From what I understood

the refs speak more than one language.

[CTyankee]

2. I guess my question would be what else do the Portuguese speak?

I'm thinking Spanish, so perhaps that what they use...

[MissHoneychurch]

3. Sign language

:D

They might also speak English.

[CTyankee]

4. That Portuguese player was pretty verbal! He was yelling at the ref.

The ref argued back but then held up a yellow card.

When I was in Portugal last year I was trying to explain (in Italian) to a guard at the University that my friend used his bathroom because she was sick, because I didn't know how else to communicate with him. "La signora sta male." I thought that at least another Latin based language would be better than English...I guess it worked because he didn't throw her out of the can...

[NewJeffCT]

5. The refs were required to learn English swears/curses

so they could tell if somebody was cursing at them in another language. With the US, England, Australia & New Zealand, Ghana and Cameroon all speaking English, it's probably a good decision. Not to mention English being a common 2nd language in some places.

[geardaddy]

6. I thought they spoke French in Cameroon?

:shrug:

[NewJeffCT]

7. official languages are English & French, with a pidgin English being the most common

The European languages introduced during colonialism have created a linguistic divide between the population who live in the Northwest and Southwest regions and the French-speaking remainder of the country.<79> Both English and French are official languages. Cameroonian Pidgin English is the most common lingua franca, especially in the formerly British-administered territories.<80> A mixture of English, French, and Pidgin called Camfranglais has been gaining popularity in urban centres since the mid-1970s.<81>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroon

[geardaddy]

9. Thanks!

I see from the link that it was also a German territory for a time.

[TZ]

8. You know the refs were taught all the curse words in English, right?

So they'd know if English speaking players were cursing them out...True story!:D