This archive report was first published on 17 October 2019.
On October 17, 2019, Italian club AS Roma made history by becoming the first European club to launch an official Swahili Twitter account.
The move was in response to fan requests, particularly after the club congratulated Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge on running a marathon in under two hours.
AS Roma's president, Jim Pallotta, had promised fans that they would launch the account following the request.
According to the club, the tweet was well-received in Kenya, with followers asking the club to launch a Swahili account.
After surprising followers with a reply in Swahili, Pallotta confirmed on his personal Twitter account that the club would indeed launch an official Roma Swahili account.
“Kama mnahitaji ukurasa wa As Roma wa Kiswahili kweli mnastahili kuwa nao. Unawajia muda si mrefu. Amani na upendo kwenu nyote,” he posted.
The club's English Twitter account has frequently tweeted in Swahili, and the reactions from their Swahili-speaking fans have been well-received.
Paul Rogers, Head of Strategy at AS Roma, said, “We’re delighted to launch AS Roma Swahili on Twitter today. After we launched a Pidgin account in March, we’ve been inundated with requests from fans in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and from other Eastern and South-Eastern African countries asking for an official Swahili account.”
He added, “Considering the passion the fans have for European football, it’s actually surprising that no football club outside of Africa has attempted to communicate daily in Swahili and Pidgin before on social media.”
The new Twitter account will allow AS Roma to directly engage with fans in a way that suits them and is consistent with their strategy of breaking down communication barriers between the club and their global fan base.
With the launch of the new Swahili account, AS Roma now communicates in 14 different languages on social media.
