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Football

足球

Beautiful game, dirty business

競技精彩，交易齷蹉

Football is a great sport, but it could be so muchbetter if it were run honestly

作為一項偉大運動的足球，公平競爭能讓它變得更好。

THE mesmerising wizardry of Lionel Messi and themuscular grace of Cristiano Ronaldo are joys to behold. But for deep-dyed internationalistslike this newspaper, the game's true beauty lies in its long reach, from east to west and northto south. Football, more than any other sport, has thrived on globalisation. Nearly half ofhumanity will watch at least part of the World Cup, which kicks off in Brazil on June 12th.

有著夢幻般迷人動作的萊昂內爾?梅西和有著健美身材的克里斯提那?羅納爾多總是讓人為之瘋狂著迷。但是在像我們報紙這樣真正的國際主義者看來，足球運動之美在于這項運動的覆蓋范圍之廣，從東到西，從南到北，都有它的蹤影。足球比其他任何運動都更具全球性。今年6月12日，全世界幾乎有一半的人至少會收看部分巴西世界杯的比賽。

So it is sad that the tournament begins under a cloud as big as the Maracan? stadium.Documents obtained by Britain's Sunday Times have allegedly revealed secret payments thathelped Qatar win the hosting rights to the World Cup in 2022.If that competition was fixed, ithas company. A report by FIFA, football's governing body, is said to have found that severalexhibition matches were rigged ahead of the World Cup in 2010. And as usual, no one hasbeen punished.

所以讓人難過的是這場比賽一開始就疑團重重，猶如烏云必然。英國《周日時報》獲得的文件表明卡塔爾為獲得2022年世界杯主辦權向組委會塞了紅包。如果競選確實是被操縱了的話，那么事情肯定還不止這么簡單。國際足球聯盟的報道表明他們發現2010年世界杯前的幾場表演賽是被操控的。但是和往常一樣的是，沒有人因此受罰。

This only prompts other questions. Why on earth did anyone think holding the World Cup inthe middle of the Arabian summer was a good idea? Why is football so far behind other sportslike rugby, cricket and tennis in using technology to doublecheck refereeing decisions? And whyis the world's greatest game led by such a group of mediocrities, notably Sepp Blatter, FIFA'sboss since 1998? In any other organisation, the endless financial scandals would have led to hisouster years ago. But more than that, he seems hopelessly out of date; from sexist remarksabout women to interrupting a minute's silence for Nelson Mandela after only 11 seconds, the78-year-old is the sort of dinosaur that left corporate boardrooms in the 1970s. Nor is itexactly heartening that the attempts to stop Mr Blatter enjoying a fifth term are being led byMichel Platini, Europe's leading soccercrat, who was once a wonderful midfielder but played awoeful role in supporting the Qatar bid.

這也意味著還有其他的問題。誰會認為在阿拉伯地區的夏季舉辦世界杯是個好主意?為什么在運用技術來檢驗裁判的準確性上，足球遠遠落后與其他運動，比如英式橄欖球，板球或是網球?為什么讓一些平庸之輩來領導這項世界上最偉大的運動，特別是自1998年以來要讓賽普·布拉特擔任國際足聯的主席?他如果在組織，早就會因其不斷的財政丑聞而下臺了。然而還不止這些，他已經無可救藥的過時了，不管是他發表的對女性的歧視言論，還是妨礙尼爾森曼德拉(他在20世紀70年代年78歲叱咤風云的時候離開了其領導的政壇。)的一分鐘默哀(當時的默哀還只進行了11秒)都可以看得出來。或者，真的應該對以米歇爾普拉蒂尼為首的為阻止布拉特連任第五屆足聯主席所做的努力而感到興奮嗎?米歇爾布拉蒂尼是歐洲最優秀的足球運動員，他曾是出色的中場隊員，但是他還是很不幸的支持了卡塔爾承辦世界杯。

Our cheating rotten scoundrels are better than yours

起碼我們足球還沒你們腐敗

Many football fans are indifferent to all this. What matters to them is the beautiful game, notthe tired old suits who run it. And FIFA's moral turpitude is hardly unique. The InternationalOlympic Committee, after all, faced a Qatar-like scandal over the awarding of the winter gamesin 2002 (though it has made a much bigger attempt to clean itself up). The boss of FormulaOne, Bernie Ecclestone, stands accused of bribery in Germany, while American basketball hasjust had to sack an owner for racist remarks. Cricket, the second-most-global sport, has hadits own match-fixing scandals. American football could be overwhelmed by compensationclaims for injuries.

許多足球球迷們對這些腐敗問題都漠不關心。他們關注的是精彩的比賽而不是這些無聊的穿的西裝革履，又老態龍鐘的管理人員們。而且不道德的行為也不僅僅發生在國際足聯中。畢竟，2002年冬奧會期間，國際奧委會也出現過類似卡塔爾事件的丑聞(盡管他們為了澄清自己做出過更多的努力)。世界一級方程式錦標賽主席伯尼埃克萊斯頓也被指控曾在德國受賄，而某美國籃球隊的老板也因其民族歧視言論而被迫離職。全球第二大運動板球，也有其操作比賽的丑聞。美國橄欖球也被索賠要求搞得雞犬不寧。

But football fans are wrong to think there is no cost to all this. First, corruption andcomplacency at the top makes it harder to fight skulduggery on the pitch. Ever largeramounts of money are now being bet on each game—it may be $1 billion a match at the WorldCup. Under external pressure to reform, FIFA has recently brought in some good people,including a respected ethics tsar, Mark Pieth. But who will listen to lectures about reform froman outfit whose public face is Mr Blatter?

但是如果球迷們認為這些不會帶來什么代價的話，那就大錯特錯了。第一，高層的腐敗和自滿使得打擊球場作假變得舉步維艱。每場比賽的賭注也越來越大，一場世界杯比賽的賭注可能高達10億美元。迫于外界要求改革的壓力，國際足聯最近吸納了一批公正的人，包括受人尊敬的道德模范馬克皮爾斯。但是誰會相信由布拉特代表的這一機構的改革呢?

Second, big-time corruption isn't victimless; nor does it end when a host country is chosen.For shady regimes—the type that bribe football officials—a major sporting event is also a chanceto defraud state coffers, for example by awarding fat contracts to cronies. Tournaments thatought to be national celebrations risk becoming festivals of graft.

第二，腐敗的肆虐并不是無害的，這種腐敗行為也不會在承辦國確定以后就不復存在。對于陰暗的體制來說(比如對足球裁判行賄的體制)，重要的足球盛會同樣也可以成為騙取政府財政的機會，比如可以為同伙簽訂利益豐厚的合約。這使得本應該是舉國歡慶的比賽盛世可能會淪為為貪污腐敗者的節日。

Finally, there is a great opportunity cost. Football is not as global as it might be (see article).The game has failed to conquer the world's three biggest countries: China, India and America.In the United States soccer, as they call it, is played but not watched. In China and India theopposite is true. The latter two will not be playing in Brazil (indeed, they have played in theWorld Cup finals just once between them).

最后，這樣做會付出高昂的機會成本。足球并不像它能夠的那樣那么全球化(另見文)。這項運動沒能征服世界上三個最大的國家：中國，印度和美國。在美國，美式足球，正如人們說所的那樣，是用來參與的而不是觀賞的。而在中國和印度，足球卻是用來觀賞而不是參與的。中國和印度并不會參加巴西世界杯(實際上，只有中國對參加過世界杯決賽階段的比賽)。

In FIFA's defence, the big three's reticence owes much to their respective histories andcultures and the strength of existing sports, notably cricket in India. And football is slowlygaining ground: in the United States the first cohort of American parents to grow up with thegame are now passing it on to their children. But that only underlines the madness of FIFAgiving the cup to Qatar, not America. And the foul air from FIFA's headquarters in Switzerlandwill hardly reassure young fans in China who are heartily sick of the corruption and match-fixing in their domestic soccer leagues.

國際足聯辯稱，這三個國家在足球方面的沉默源自于歷史文化和其它體育運動的強勢，尤其是印度的板球。但是足球已經逐漸站穩腳跟。在美國，第一代踢足球長大的家長已經把習慣傳承給了他們自己的孩子。然而，這只能更加說明國際足聯拒絕美國而把世界杯承辦權授予卡塔爾是多么的愚蠢。而彌漫著位于瑞士的國際足聯總部的污濁之氣也不能使中國的年輕球迷感到安心，他們正為中國國家足球隊的腐敗和比賽造假而倍感痛心。

It would be good to get rid of Mr Blatter, but that would not solve FIFA's structural problem.Though legally incorporated as a Swiss non-profit organisation, FIFA has no master. Those whomight hold it to account, such as national or regional football organisations, depend on its cash.High barriers to entry make it unlikely that a rival will emerge, so FIFA has a naturalmonopoly over international football. An entity like this should be regulated, but FIFAanswers to no government.

如果能讓布拉特下臺自然不錯，但也不能解決國際足聯的組織結構問題。盡管國際足聯是在瑞士合法注冊的非盈利機構，但是沒有人對它進行管控。那些可能對其進行管控的機構，比如國家或者地區足球組織，卻又都依賴于國際足聯的資金。高門檻準入導致很難產生競爭對手，于是國際足聯壟斷了國際足球運動。像這樣的組織本應接受監管，但是國際足聯卻不受任何政府的管控。

All the same, more could be done. The Swiss should demand a clean-up or withdraw FIFA'sfavourable tax status. Sponsors should also weigh in on graft and on the need to pushforward with new technology: an immediate video review of every penalty and goal awardedwould be a start.

即使這樣，也并非無可作為。瑞士方面可以要求清理或者撤回對國際足聯的稅收優惠政策。贊助方也可以權衡腐敗問題并從推行新技術入手。這一技術可以對點球和進球判罰進行及時影像回放。

The hardest bit of the puzzle is the host-selection process. One option would be to stick theWorld Cup in one country and leave it there; but that nation's home team would have a bigadvantage, and tournaments benefit from moving between different time zones. Aneconomically rational option would be to give this year's winner, and each successivechampion, the option of either hosting the tournament in eight years' time or auctioning offthat right to the highest bidder. That would favour football's powerhouses. But as most ofthem already have the stadiums, there would be less waste—and it would provide even more ofan incentive to win.

問題的難點在于承辦權的競選過程。一種選擇是把世界杯舉辦權授予某個特定國家，讓它一直作為承辦國：但是這個國家的主場球隊就會大占優勢，在比賽中也不用受時差的影響。經濟合理的選擇是，把權利授予每屆杯賽冠軍，他可以決定八年舉辦一次杯賽，或者把承辦權授予出價最高的投標者。這樣的話，足球強國就會占優。不過因為他們大都已經擁有足球場，這樣也不會產生過多的浪費，而且會激勵更多的國家去爭奪冠軍。

Sadly, soccer fans are romantic nationalists, not logical economists—so our proposal standsless chance of winning than England does. One small step towards sanity would be formally torotate the tournament, so it went, say, from Europe to Africa to Asia to the Americas, whichwould at least stop intercontinental corruption. But very little of this will happen withoutchange at the top in Zurich.

遺憾的是，球迷們都是浪漫的國際主義者，而不是理性的經濟學家，所以我們的建議比不過英國人的。賽事輪換舉辦可以是走向理智的一小步，比如可以按照從歐洲到非洲到亞洲再到美洲的順序進行，這樣至少可以阻止洲內腐敗。但是如果國際足聯蘇黎世總部沒有改變的話，所有這些設想都不會付諸實踐。

【重點講解】

1.kick off 開始干某事;開賽

例句:The shows kick off on October 24th.

演出10月24日開始。

2.lead to 導致;引起;通往

例句:The bell-boy led us to our rooms.

旅館服務員把我們帶到了我們的房間。

3.attempt to 試圖;企圖;嘗試

例句:The proposals are an attempt to rid the country of political corruption.

這些提議試圖使這個國家擺脫政治腐敗。

4.ought to 應該;應當

例句:I felt I ought to show my face at her father's funeral.

我覺得我應該去參加她父親的葬禮。