International

Romanian Soccer Team Replaces Jersey Numbers With Math Problems

By Liana Loewus — March 29, 2016 1 min read
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In an effort to get kids excited about math, the Romanian men’s soccer team recently swapped the numbers on players’ training jerseys for math equations.

The players wore the jerseys ahead of a match with Spain on Sunday (not actually during the game—though that would have been interesting for the referees). The answers to the short math problems revealed the players’ real numbers.

The stunt was designed to help combat Romania’s high dropout rates, which are among the worst in the European Union at about 18 percent, reports the Guardian.

“Football and mathematics are not mutually exclusive,” said the Romanian Football Federation president, Razvan Burleanu, according to the newspaper. “Through this project, children will learn the basics of football and have an opportunity for the first time in our country to discover mathematics through an attractive approach.”

Image: Viorel Moldovan, the assistant coach of Romania National Team, watches players warm up before a friendly soccer match between Romania and Spain in Cluj, Romania, on March 27.—Mircea Rosca/AP

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.