Alphabet use at EURO '04

[argh1]

AWRIGHT, I do have way too much time one my hands!

But , I was wondering . Does any-one know why the countries that use non-latin alphabets have their players names written on the jerseys in the latin alphabet instead of the alphabet used at home ?

Cryllic (Slavic) and Greek stand out. [?]

[Cheeta]

Nope.

Struck me as strange too. Put it down to marketing but scratched that idea. No idea at all.

Could always blame Nike.

[Metro]

It might be due to UEFA regulations, so that refs, officials, even broadcasters can read the names. I know that when Greek clubs (i.e. Panathinaikos, Olympiakos etc.) play in European Cup games, the names on the jerseys are written in English, but when they play within the Greek League, the names are written in Greek.

Just a guess...

[Joe Concacaf]

When certain Asian countries are at international events, they use latin scripts as well.

[beachesl]

The UEFA Kit Regulations (art. 9) and the FIFA Equipment Regulations (art. 8), the regulations that the various competition regualtions refer to, that deal with the requirements of player's names (size, legibility, etc.) are silent on the use of language or alphabet, so conceivably the names could be in cryillic or arabic.

The silence on these deatils (in black and white) may be as a result of cultural and political sensitivities. The fact that there is a consensus may just be due to a consensus. However, it may also be due to oral instructions that can be backed up by the catch-all provisions that the organizing committees of the competitions have a general power to implement and further elaborate on the actual articles.

[matthew]

Here's something I'm not too up on, but I've never understood why some players spell their names different than it would be in their native languages. I can't think of a great example except isn't RVN supposed to be spelled Van Nistelrooj in Dutch, but is Van Nistelrooy on his jersey?

cheers,

matthew