It’s not an easy task for any nation to host the FIFA World Cup as that opens doors for the world to come and engage in economic activities while enjoying other cultures. However, hosting the tournament is quite challenging in terms of enormous responsibility, particularly handling diverse internationals in a country. It would seem on paper that this Saudi bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup is ambitious with a very major flaw-a pretty serious language gap: Saudi folks do not read or speak any considerable amount of English and still fewer can write in that script.
Role of Language in International Events
Language, after all, forms the very backbone of good communication, especially across international events like the FIFA World Cup, which brings millions of fans, journalists, athletes, and officials from around the world. That is the reason why English has now become the default language for such events since it is most widely used in international business, media, and travel.
From the navigation of airports and the booking of hotels to ordering of meals and medical assistance, the tourists require speaking and understanding English to make their tour incident-free. Students mostly score about 64 out of 120 for the TOEFL. From grade seven and moving up to the university levels, many struggle even with rudimentary reading and speaking skills.
Status of English Speaking in Saudi Arabia Today
In the current global rankings of English proficiency, Saudi Arabia ranks at the bottom end. It falls under “low” or “very low” proficiency categories and lags far behind most other countries, as reported by the EF English Proficiency Index. This shows up as an issue in sectors critical to hosting international events, such as hospitality, transportation, and retail.
For a long time, there have been efforts to stretch the English language in the country, particularly through the education sector. However, the gap is still huge, and this is between the existing workforce in the service industry and the rest. Other countries, that have seriously invested in their language training program for their tourism and event employees, have seen little or no returns from such efforts in Saudi Arabia.
Language barriers have been associated with low patient satisfaction because most patients felt that NASNs could not understand their problems. This resulted in mistrust, as 35% of the patients expressed that they doubted the credibility of information given by NASNs, which was brought about by language.
Limited English Proficiency Problem
Visitor Experience
Hotel Services: Bad pronunciation of English may lead to mistakes in bookings, amenities, and requests. The visitors may not be able to present their issues or ask for help at the right time thereby inviting disappointment.
Transportation: The visitor is moved around the host city using taxis, public transportation, and chauffeur services. The inability of drivers to speak adequate English may confuse the visitor as regards directions, destinations, or special requests that may cause undue delays and inconveniences.
Emergency Situations: In case of medical emergencies or situations where help is required immediately, language issues may be of grave concern. Miscommunication can delay help, escalate stress, and worsen outcomes.
Operational Inefficiencies
Volunteer and Staff Communication: Volunteers and staff members often act as the first point of contact for visitors. If they lack English proficiency, it becomes challenging to provide accurate information or resolve issues quickly.
Media and Broadcasting: International journalists who cover the event require support from local press centers and staff. Language barriers might limit their capacity to report the event, and this may reflect in the overall perception of the event worldwide.
Reputation and Perception
The host country will suffer from reputation stakes, especially while playing in the World Cup. The language barrier will even give the wrong impression among visitors and lead to bad reviews and a low standing of Saudi Arabia on the world tourism map.
Experience of Previous Hosts
Language Training Programs: Russia and Qatar conducted large-scale English training programs for service staff so they could communicate with visitors from other countries effectively.
Multilingual Employees: A huge number of expatriates, with great fluency in English, were hired for the top posts in both countries.
Technical Innovations: There were translation apps and machines that helped fill the communication gap.
Multilingualism of the Spectators
This World Cup has spectators coming from all corners of the world. For most fans, it is not their first language, but it remains the lingua franca for most people. This means that the service staff in the host country also needs to be able to converse in good English to serve this linguistic diversity.
Issues with Saudi Arabia Trainings
This fact adds even more complexity to the training: a significant portion of the country’s service industry workforce consists of expatriates from non-English-speaking nations. There could be some culture-related attitudes within the country, which might lean towards learning a foreign language and other aspects of learning within some provinces in Saudi Arabia, but do not encourage vast numbers of training programs on their proficiency in the English language. Only nine years to 2034, which means a very short time for tremendous worker training considering the very low base currently prevalent for English language proficiency.
Conclusion
The intentions of Saudi Arabia in hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2034 are truly praiseworthy; however, the current state of affairs relating to the inadequacy of base for the service staff holding some level of English proficiency indeed poses a critical impediment. Language barriers impact not just the experience of visitors but also threaten the operational success of an event. Saudi Arabia, unless major improvements are seen in this regard, risks failing to deliver against the very stringent standards that make it worthy of hosting one of the world’s most revered sporting events.
