Following an appeal by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremen, the Ukrainian Football Association has imposed disciplinary sanctions in the form of a warning on referees who used a non-state language during football matches of the 15th round of the Ukrainian Championship.
This is stated in a letter from the UAF signed by the Association's First Vice President Anatoliy Demyanenko and sent to the Ombudsman.
The Association also reported that the chairman of the UAF Referees Committee Luciano Luci sternly warned UPL referees, assistant referees and UPL arbitration observers about the inadmissibility of using a non-state language at football matches and once again warned of the need for strict compliance with language legislation.
"In case of non-compliance with the requirements and provisions specified in the letter of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, the Committee will be forced to apply its own disciplinary measures to violators, in addition to the sanctions and fines provided for by law, including temporary suspension from matches and sending a corresponding application to the UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee," Luciano Luci said.
As a reminder, according to parts one and two of Article 34 of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language", sports events, including international ones, are held in Ukraine in the state language. Special foreign language terms used in certain sports may be used without translation. Information and other announcements during a sports event are made in the state language. During international events, such announcements may be duplicated in other languages.
For reference. In 2023, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language received more than 60 appeals from citizens regarding signs of violation of the language law in the field of sports.
