Football Phrase of the Week: Foul and abusive language

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Football Phrase of the Week: Foul and abusive language

In this football phrase of the week we explain the expression, ‘Foul and abusive language‘ after Real Madrid player Jude Bellingham was shown the red card against Osasuna in La Liga. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Foul and abusive language

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DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to this week’s football phrase which is when we look back at some of the language from the weekend’s football. And this week we look at a story from La Liga in Spain where England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was sent off in the game against Osasuna. He was given a red card – a straight red – for foul and abusive language at the referee. And this is the phrase we will be looking at today: ‘foul and abusive language‘.

Now according to IFAB, (that’s the International Football Association Board) which is the organisation in charge of the laws of the game of football, a player can receive a red card for ‘using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)’. So, this kind of bad language tries to hurt or to disrespect another person – maybe by swearing at them, so using bad language. So, if a player uses bad or foul or abusive language at the referee then they can be sent off.

At the weekend in Spain, Jude Bellingham was sent off for using an English swear word at the referee. The referee thought that Bellingham had used the phrase directly at him and showed him the red card; though Bellingham said that was not the case and instead he was saying the phrase to himself which he said was quite common. There has been a big discussion in Spain about the use of this expression and whether the word, which begins with an ‘F’, can be directed to someone else or to oneself simply because of the word that follows it (in this case ‘you’ or ‘off’).

Obviously, we don’t think swearing at a referee is a good thing but it is really interesting that there have been lots of discussions around multilingualism, intent and context and what languages are being used in the globalised world of football by players, coaches, referees and fans.

Here is what the BBC said: ‘The England midfielder, who scored Real’s late winner at Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday, was shown a straight red in the 39th minute for foul and abusive language towards [the] referee…’ (BBC.co.uk Feb 15 2025)

And this one from Reuters discusses a possible ban for the player; so he might miss some upcoming games:  ‘The forward could be facing a four to 12-game ban for “insulting, offending, or addressing the main referee, assistants, fourth official, directors, or sports authorities in offensive terms or attitudes”‘.

Can you think of any more examples like this? And how would you say this expression, ‘foul and abusive language‘ in another language that you know? Let us know by dropping us a line at admin@languagecaster.com.

Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in Spanish)

Yes, that message was in Spanish. Enjoy all the football and we’ll see you again soon. Bye bye.

Related Terms

Football Language Glossary