This archive report was first published on 17 October 2019.
On October 16, 2019, Italian football giant AS Roma made history by launching a new Swahili Twitter account, becoming the first major European football club to create an official social media profile specifically to communicate directly with Swahili fans in Africa.
The new account, @ASRomaSwahili, was set up after fans in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and other Eastern and South-Eastern African countries contacted the club to request an account to cater specifically for the Swahili audience.
According to Paul Rogers, Head of Strategy at AS Roma, the club was 'delighted' to launch the AS Roma Swahili account on Twitter, citing the passion of fans for European football and the need to break down communication barriers between the club and its global fan base.
With the launch of the new Swahili account, AS Roma now communicates in 14 different languages on social media, including Italian, English, Arabic, Indonesian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Bosnian, Turkish, Dutch, Farsi, Pidgin, and Chinese.
