The Welsh team will play a World Cup again after 64 years. Qatar 2022 will be the stage where the Red Dragons make their comeback in the ultimate football event. However, the Welsh Football Association is considering changing their name to one they consider more representative.
The name they want to start being called in international events is Cymru, which is the Welsh name of the nation. The reason for the change is to want to reflect the name in the competitions that the selected player disputes. The idea is to play the World Cup under the current name and deepen the idea next year.
Noel Mooney, managing director of the Wales Football Association, has expressed his firm belief in the name change. “Our opinion at the moment is that we locally call ourselves Cymru. This is what we call our national teams. If you look at our website, we call it Cymru.”
Furthermore, he highlighted what the steps to follow in this matter will be. “Internationally we think we still have some work to do. So we will go to this World Cup like Wales. But hopefully 2023 will be the year in which we will have a good discussion with all partners.”.
The matter received attention this month when Wales were involved in the same group as Turkey in qualifying for Euro 2024 in Germany. It turns out that the Turkish national team competes internationally as “Turkiye”, its Turkish name and not its Anglo-Saxon version.
Mooney acknowledged that unofficial talks have already taken place with UEFA at various events to find out how Turkey and other countries have been able to change their name into their own language to go in the same direction and fulfill their wish.
“What I do know is that there is a revival of the Welsh language and a feeling of great pride in what we do with regard to culture and heritage,” reflected the head of the Welsh Football Association.
Source: Clarin
