East Bengal football witnessed an awkward situation when they forgot to arrange a translator for their new Costa Rican player Johnny Acosta. Kolkata club authorities were left red-faced at the press conference which was meant to unveil the Costa Rican World Cup player.
The club’s brand ambassador Alvito D’Cunha tried to save the situation, but the basic knowledge of the Portuguese language was of little help.
The officials tried to make up for their blunder by taking help from the ‘Google Translator’ but poor connectivity at the media centre hindered the proceedings. They even shifted the press conference to a different room but the failure to translate only led to added embarrassment for the newly appointed CEO Sanjit Sen. Eventually, the press conference had to be cancelled.
According to Goal.com, club ambassador Alvito D’Cumham, who is from Goa, tried his best to help with the little Portuguese he knew but could not translate the two languages accurately. Acosta was then asked to move to a different corner of the media centre where there was better connectivity but most of the questions from the journalists were in Bengali, making the task of ‘Google Translator’ even more difficult.
Here’s the video of the press conference:
VIDEO: The special moment when Johnny Acosta put on the No.2 jersey of the 98 year old QUESS East Bengal club of Kolkata , India@repretelcr @JhonnyAcosta03 @ProbasheEB @ebultras1920 @EBRPFC pic.twitter.com/mn2fbVmslh
— EAST BENGAL News Analysis (@QEBNA) August 8, 2018
A faux pas like this was bound to receive criticism from fans.
Johnny Acosta’s press conference cancelled as the club didn’t arrange an interpreter for the player. Height of unprofessionalism from a club who recently got a high profile investor. #QEB #EastBengal pic.twitter.com/vWrUotF3xG
— Ritabrata Banerjee (@ritabrata20) August 8, 2018
Quess East Bengal could not ensure presence of an interpreter for the intro. pc of World Cupper Johnny Acosta Zamora! Google translate was entrusted n failed miserably! presser had to be postponed… professionalism at its worst!! #EastBengal pic.twitter.com/QIkiGRvcWp
— Kashinath (@bkashi) August 8, 2018
East Bengal had the resources to buy Johnny Acosta, a Costa Rican who featured at the #WorldCup this year, but couldn’t arrange an interpreter for his interaction with the media. Excellent. #IndianFootball https://t.co/zK1hABLtzI
— Manasi Pathak (@ThatUnitedLady) August 8, 2018
Not the first media interaction Costa Rican Johnny Acosta had in mind surely with @eastbengalfc. No interpreter so no introduction
— Abhimanyu Sen (@abhimanyusen) August 8, 2018
Here’s Google translator’s version of what Acosta had to say about joining the club.
“I know Guimaraes is in Mumbai City. Carlos Hernandez in Prayag United. I heard he had good experience. Yendrick Ruiz joined Pune City in 2015.”
Acosta was in the starting line up of each Costa Rica match in the Russia World Cup 2018. The central defender has featured in 71 matches for his national team. His practice sessions for East Bengal FC will be starting soon as he has declared himself fit to play ahead of joining.
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