Italian football club AS Roma became the first European Club to launch a Swahili Social Media account on Wednesday. The Club president Pallotta had promised that he club will set up a Swahili account after a tweet congratulating Eliud Kipchoge for his record-breaking exploits in the marathon race was well received.
After surprising followers with a reply in Swahili, Pallotta used his own personal Twitter account the following morning to confirm that the club would indeed launch an official Roma Swahili account this week.
“Kama mnahitaji ukurasa wa As Roma wa Kiswahili kweli mnastahili kuwa nao. Unawajia muda si mrefu. Amani na upendo kwenu nyote,” he posted in his personal Twitter account.
“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,” said Paul Rogers, Head of Strategy at AS Roma.
“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,” he added.
AS Roma has enjoyed a special and strong bond with Kenyan football fans in the past few months. In August, the club announced that a 13-year-old boy who featured when the club announced the signing of Arsenal midfielder Henrik Mkhitaryan ahd been found and reunited with his family.
Below are some of the Tweets from the AS Roma Swahili account.
ROMA SWAHILI ADMIN IS HERE!!! pic.twitter.com/pY8t5M1jb8
— AS Roma Swahili (@ASRomaSwahili) October 16, 2019
Ahsante sana kwa upendo na ushirikiano ambao mmetuonesha tangu tumezindua ukurasa huu rasmi.
Ni dhahiri kwamba kwa pamoja tutaendelea kushirikiana na kufurahia pamoja hapa hapa kwa lugha ya Kiswahili. Endelea kuja kwa wingi zaidi.❤️❤️💛💛
— AS Roma Swahili (@ASRomaSwahili) October 17, 2019
❤️💛 @D_10Perotti ametembelea Hospitali ya watoto ya @bambinogesu leo kama sehemu ya mradi wa Roma 'Toys Day'. pic.twitter.com/UCbE9iitUc
— AS Roma Swahili (@ASRomaSwahili) October 16, 2019