Football

足球

Beautiful game, dirty business

竞技精彩，交易龌蹉

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

作为一项伟大运动的足球，公平竞争能让它变得更好。

THE mesmerising wizardry of Lionel Messi and the muscular grace of Cristiano Ronaldo are joys to behold. But for deep-dyed internationalists like this newspaper, the game's true beauty lies in its long reach, from east to west and north to 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.

有着梦幻般迷人动作的莱昂内尔?梅西和有着健美身材的克里斯提那?罗纳尔多总是让人为之疯狂着迷。但是在像我们报纸这样真正的国际主义者看来，足球运动之美在于这项运动的覆盖范围之广，从东到西，从南到北，都有它的踪影。足球比其他任何运动都更具全球性。今年6月12日，全世界几乎有一半的人至少会收看部分巴西世界杯的比赛。

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, it has company. A report by FIFA, football's governing body, is said to have found that several exhibition matches were rigged ahead of the World Cup in 2010. And as usual, no one hasbeen punished.

所以让人难过的是这场比赛一开始就疑团重重，犹如乌云必然。英国《周日时报》获得的文件表明卡塔尔为获得2022年世界杯主办权向组委会塞了红包。如果竞选确实是被操纵了的话，那么事情肯定还不止这么简单。国际足球联盟的报道表明他们发现2010年世界杯前的几场表演赛是被操控的。但是和往常一样的是，没有人因此受罚。

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 sports like rugby, cricket and tennis in using technology to double check refereeing decisions? And whyis the world's greatest game led by such a group of mediocrities, notably Sepp Blatter, FIFA's boss since 1998? In any other organisation, the endless financial scandals would have led to his ouster years ago. But more than that, he seems hopelessly out of date; from sexist remarks about women to interrupting a minute's silence for Nelson Mandela after only 11 seconds, the78-year-old is the sort of dinosaur that left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 by Michel Platini, Europe's leading soccercrat, who was once a wonderful midfielder but played a woeful role in supporting the Qatar bid.

这也意味着还有其他的问题。谁会认为在阿拉伯地区的夏季举办世界杯是个好主意?为什么在运用技术来检验裁判的准确性上，足球远远落后与其他运动，比如英式橄榄球，板球或是网球?为什么让一些平庸之辈来领导这项世界上最伟大的运动，特别是自1998年以来要让赛普·布拉特担任国际足联的主席?他如果在组织，早就会因其不断的财政丑闻而下台了。然而还不止这些，他已经无可救药的过时了，不管是他发表的对女性的歧视言论，还是妨碍尼尔森曼德拉(他在20世纪70年代年78岁叱咤风云的时候离开了其领导的政坛。)的一分钟默哀(当时的默哀还只进行了11秒)都可以看得出来。或者，真的应该对以米歇尔普拉蒂尼为首的为阻止布拉特连任第五届足联主席所做的努力而感到兴奋吗?米歇尔布拉蒂尼是欧洲最优秀的足球运动员，他曾是出色的中场队员，但是他还是很不幸的支持了卡塔尔承办世界杯。

Our cheating rotten scoundrels are better than yours

起码我们足球还没你们腐败

Many football fans are indifferent to all this. What matters to them is the beautiful game, not the tired old suits who run it. And FIFA's moral turpitude is hardly unique. The International Olympic 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 Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, stands accused of bribery in Germany, while American basketball has just had to sack an owner for racist remarks. Cricket, the second-most-global sport, has had its own match-fixing scandals. American football could be overwhelmed by compensation claims for injuries.

许多足球球迷们对这些腐败问题都漠不关心。他们关注的是精彩的比赛而不是这些无聊的穿的西装革履，又老态龙钟的管理人员们。而且不道德的行为也不仅仅发生在国际足联中。毕竟，2002年冬奥会期间，国际奥委会也出现过类似卡塔尔事件的丑闻(尽管他们为了澄清自己做出过更多的努力)。世界一级方程式锦标赛主席伯尼埃克莱斯顿也被指控曾在德国受贿，而某美国篮球队的老板也因其民族歧视言论而被迫离职。全球第二大运动板球，也有其操作比赛的丑闻。美国橄榄球也被索赔要求搞得鸡犬不宁。

But football fans are wrong to think there is no cost to all this. First, corruption and complacency at the top makes it harder to fight skulduggery on the pitch. Ever larger amounts 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?

但是如果球迷们认为这些不会带来什么代价的话，那就大错特错了。第一，高层的腐败和自满使得打击球场作假变得举步维艰。每场比赛的赌注也越来越大，一场世界杯比赛的赌注可能高达10亿美元。迫于外界要求改革的压力，国际足联最近吸纳了一批公正的人，包括受人尊敬的道德模范马克皮尔斯。但是谁会相信由布拉特代表的这一机构的改革呢?

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 chance to defraud state coffers, for example by awarding fat contracts to cronies. Tournaments that ought to be national celebrations risk becoming festivals of graft.

第二，腐败的肆虐并不是无害的，这种腐败行为也不会在承办国确定以后就不复存在。对于阴暗的体制来说(比如对足球裁判行贿的体制)，重要的足球盛会同样也可以成为骗取政府财政的机会，比如可以为同伙签订利益丰厚的合约。这使得本应该是举国欢庆的比赛盛世可能会沦为为贪污腐败者的节日。

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 the opposite is true. The latter two will not be playing in Brazil (indeed, they have played in the World Cup finals just once between them).

最后，这样做会付出高昂的机会成本。足球并不像它能够的那样那么全球化(另见文)。这项运动没能征服世界上三个最大的国家：中国，印度和美国。在美国，美式足球，正如人们说所的那样，是用来参与的而不是观赏的。而在中国和印度，足球却是用来观赏而不是参与的。中国和印度并不会参加巴西世界杯(实际上，只有中国对参加过世界杯决赛阶段的比赛)。考研成绩公布时间

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

国际足联辩称，这三个国家在足球方面的沉默源自于历史文化和其它体育运动的强势，尤其是印度的板球。但是足球已经逐渐站稳脚跟。在美国，第一代踢足球长大的家长已经把习惯传承给了他们自己的孩子。然而，这只能更加说明国际足联拒绝美国而把世界杯承办权授予卡塔尔是多么的愚蠢。而弥漫着位于瑞士的国际足联总部的污浊之气也不能使中国的年轻球迷感到安心，他们正为中国国家足球队的腐败和比赛造假而倍感痛心。

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 who might 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.

如果能让布拉特下台自然不错，但也不能解决国际足联的组织结构问题。尽管国际足联是在瑞士合法注册的非盈利机构，但是没有人对它进行管控。那些可能对其进行管控的机构，比如国家或者地区足球组织，却又都依赖于国际足联的资金。高门槛准入导致很难产生竞争对手，于是国际足联垄断了国际足球运动。像这样的组织本应接受监管，但是国际足联却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's favourable tax status. Sponsors should also weigh in on graft and on the need to push forward with new technology: an immediate video review of every penalty and goal awarded would be a start.

即使这样，也并非无可作为。瑞士方面可以要求清理或者撤回对国际足联的税收优惠政策。赞助方也可以权衡腐败问题并从推行新技术入手。这一技术可以对点球和进球判罚进行及时影像回放。

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

问题的难点在于承办权的竞选过程。一种选择是把世界杯举办权授予某个特定国家，让它一直作为承办国：但是这个国家的主场球队就会大占优势，在比赛中也不用受时差的影响。经济合理的选择是，把权利授予每届杯赛冠军，他可以决定八年举办一次杯赛，或者把承办权授予出价最高的投标者。这样的话，足球强国就会占优。不过因为他们大都已经拥有足球场，这样也不会产生过多的浪费，而且会激励更多的国家去争夺冠军。

Sadly, soccer fans are romantic nationalists, not logical economists—so our proposal stands less chance of winning than England does. One small step towards sanity would be formally to rotate the tournament, so it went, say, from Europe to Africa to Asia to the Americas, which would at least stop intercontinental corruption. But very little of this will happen without change at the top in Zurich.

遗憾的是，球迷们都是浪漫的国际主义者，而不是理性的经济学家，所以我们的建议比不过英国人的。赛事轮换举办可以是走向理智的一小步，比如可以按照从欧洲到非洲到亚洲再到美洲的顺序进行，这样至少可以阻止洲内腐败。但是如果国际足联苏黎世总部没有改变的话，所有这些设想都不会付诸实践。