Similarities, differences and professionalization in the application of sports interpreting in Turkey and Europe

Football, as one of the most popular sports throughout the history, has become a financially growing industry with an increasing level of internationalization. This study sets forth the hypothesis that there is a significant need of communication and translation due to the growing number of foreign football players in football clubs in Turkey and Europe and that the methods of responding to this need vary. This study aims to define the differences and similarities in the application of football interpreting by football organizations and clubs in Turkey and Europe in the context of sports interpreting within consecutive interpreting. The main data corpus of this study consists of previous studies in this field and answers given to the questionnaire by football interpreters in Turkey and in Europe. As a result of the evaluation of all the data, the aspects bearing similarities and differences are type of contracts, the income from the profession, other granted rights depending on the contract type, professional associations and the advantageous and disadvantageous aspects of the profession. This study, as the first graduate study in this field in terms of having a comparative nature about the application and perception of the profession in Turkey and in Europe, consists of exemplary findings for future studies.