The Name
of the Game

by Luciano O. Monteiro

Hello. I'm the director and chief translator at DELETRA OÜ. I'm a professional translator, journalist and copywriter. I am an ISO 17100:2015 Qualified Translator and a Qualified Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) in the United Kingdom. I started my professional career as a journalist back in the 1990s and then became a full-time translator in 2001. I was the Portuguese chief translator and editor for arguably the world's most popular football (soccer) website from September 2009 to December 2014. Besides translating and editing football news stories, I also managed a team of translators and wrote the Fifa.com Brazilian Portuguese official style guide.

I live in Tallinn, the beautiful capital of Estonia, and even though I currently provide translation, editing and copywriting services mostly in areas such as finance, business, law and consumer electronics, I still find time to work on projects involving football and other sports.

My experience in soccer goes much beyond being an avid fan, as I started working as a reporter covering local sports news and gradually made my way through to provide regular services for major football players, clubs, agents, federations and media outlets worldwide. Some of my highlights have been jobs during the 2006 Football World Cup, 2006 Club World Cup, 2008 Futsal World Cup and, since mid-2009, virtually all major soccer competitions. In 2010 and 2016, in two separate projects, I also translated into Brazilian Portuguese the voice commentary used for the world's two most popular football videogame franchises. In addition, I have translated magazines and individual news stories on sports such as volleyball and fencing.

You may find out more about my football expertise by reading two cover stories in which I was interviewed for the ITI Bulletin in May 2008 and in May 2016. Also, my work has been included in the best-selling book Found in Translation, by Nataly Kelly and Jost Zetzsche. In addition, I was interviewed for a Wall Street Journal piece during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. More recently, I wrote a cover story for the ITI Bulletin describing the five-year-long project involving the Fifa.com website.

I have a strong linguistic background, and I like to say that I specialise in producing impeccable copy in my native Brazilian Portuguese. My commitment to style and accuracy can be seen in an article published in the ITI Bulletin describing my meticulous quality-assurance workflow, consisting of four steps involving draft translation, review, editing and proofreading.