Wales are considering a name change after the 2022 World Cup. The Football Association of Wales (FAW) uses ‘Cymru’, which is Welsh for Wales in all their official communication.
And following the tournament in Qatar, they could launch an appeal for an official name change. Informal discussions have already been held about the issue, and could progress further next year.
Wales could be renamed next year
“The team should always be called Cymru, that’s what we call it here,” said FAW chief executive Noel Mooney.
“Our view at the moment is that domestically we’re clearly called Cymru. That’s what we call our national teams.
“If you look at our website, how we talk about ourselves, we are very much Cymru.
“Internationally we feel we have a bit more work to do yet. So we are going to this World Cup as Wales.
“But I think 2023 will be a year when we have a good discussion with all the different stakeholders – whether that’s governments, our own boards, councils and decision-making bodies, staff, club and players.
“We’re a very open democratic organisation and we don’t just unilaterally decide today to do something like that.
“I would say it’s the direction of travel, but there’s no firm decisions on it. It’s more almost by osmosis that we’re heading towards it.”
Turkey have been renamed Turkiye following an official appeal. And following in their footsteps, Wales could be given permission to use their native language name as well.
