2016考研英語(yǔ)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人熱點(diǎn)：足球競(jìng)技精彩 交易齷蹉

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Football

足球

Beautiful game, dirty business

競(jìng)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(xiàng)偉大運(yùn)動(dòng)的足球，公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)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(mèng)幻般迷人動(dòng)作的萊昂內(nèi)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(bào)紙這樣真正的國(guó)際主義者看來(lái)，足球運(yùn)動(dòng)之美在于這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)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(yùn)動(dòng)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(huì)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(guò)的是這場(chǎng)比賽一開始就疑團(tuán)重重，猶如烏云必然。英國(guó)《周日時(shí)報(bào)》獲得的文件表明卡塔爾為獲得2022年世界杯主辦權(quán)向組委會(huì)塞了紅包。如果競(jìng)選確實(shí)是被操縱了的話，那么事情肯定還不止這么簡(jiǎn)單。國(guó)際足球聯(lián)盟的報(bào)道表明他們發(fā)現(xiàn)2010年世界杯前的幾場(chǎng)表演賽是被操控的。但是和往常一樣的是，沒(méi)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 But more than that, he seems hopelessly out of date; from sexist remarksabout women to interrupting a minute's silence for Nelson Mandela after only 11 seconds, the78-year-old is the sort of dinosaur that left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(wèn)題。誰(shuí)會(huì)認(rèn)為在阿拉伯地區(qū)的夏季舉辦世界杯是個(gè)好主意?為什么在運(yùn)用技術(shù)來(lái)檢驗(yàn)裁判的準(zhǔn)確性上，足球遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后與其他運(yùn)動(dòng)，比如英式橄欖球，板球或是網(wǎng)球?為什么讓一些平庸之輩來(lái)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這項(xiàng)世界上最偉大的運(yùn)動(dòng)，特別是自1998年以來(lái)要讓賽普·布拉特?fù)?dān)任國(guó)際足聯(lián)的主席?他如果在組織，早就會(huì)因其不斷的財(cái)政丑聞而下臺(tái)了。然而還不止這些，他已經(jīng)無(wú)可救藥的過(guò)時(shí)了，不管是他發(fā)表的對(duì)女性的歧視言論，還是妨礙尼爾森曼德拉(他在20世紀(jì)70年代年78歲叱咤風(fēng)云的時(shí)候離開了其領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的政壇。)的一分鐘默哀(當(dāng)時(shí)的默哀還只進(jìn)行了11秒)都可以看得出來(lái)。或者，真的應(yīng)該對(duì)以米歇爾普拉蒂尼為首的為阻止布拉特連任第五屆足聯(lián)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(yōu)秀的足球運(yùn)動(dòng)員，他曾是出色的中場(chǎng)隊(duì)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(méi)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(duì)這些腐敗問(wèn)題都漠不關(guān)心。他們關(guān)注的是精彩的比賽而不是這些無(wú)聊的穿的西裝革履，又老態(tài)龍鐘的管理人員們。而且不道德的行為也不僅僅發(fā)生在國(guó)際足聯(lián)中。畢竟，2002年冬奧會(huì)期間，國(guó)際奧委會(huì)也出現(xiàn)過(guò)類似卡塔爾事件的丑聞(盡管他們?yōu)榱顺吻遄约鹤龀鲞^(guò)更多的努力)。世界一級(jí)方程式錦標(biāo)賽主席伯尼埃克萊斯頓也被指控曾在德國(guó)受賄，而某美國(guó)籃球隊(duì)的老板也因其民族歧視言論而被迫離職。全球第二大運(yùn)動(dòng)板球，也有其操作比賽的丑聞。美國(guó)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(rèn)為這些不會(huì)帶來(lái)什么代價(jià)的話，那就大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)了。第一，高層的腐敗和自滿使得打擊球場(chǎng)作假變得舉步維艱。每場(chǎng)比賽的賭注也越來(lái)越大，一場(chǎng)世界杯比賽的賭注可能高達(dá)10億美元。迫于外界要求改革的壓力，國(guó)際足聯(lián)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(shuí)會(huì)相信由布拉特代表的這一機(jī)構(gòu)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(wú)害的，這種腐敗行為也不會(huì)在承辦國(guó)確定以后就不復(fù)存在。對(duì)于陰暗的體制來(lái)說(shuō)(比如對(duì)足球裁判行賄的體制)，重要的足球盛會(huì)同樣也可以成為騙取政府財(cái)政的機(jī)會(huì)，比如可以為同伙簽訂利益豐厚的合約。這使得本應(yīng)該是舉國(guó)歡慶的比賽盛世可能會(huì)淪為為貪污腐敗者的節(jié)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(huì)付出高昂的機(jī)會(huì)成本。足球并不像它能夠的那樣那么全球化(另見文)。這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)沒(méi)能征服世界上三個(gè)最大的國(guó)家：中國(guó)，印度和美國(guó)。在美國(guó)，美式足球，正如人們說(shuō)所的那樣，是用來(lái)參與的而不是觀賞的。而在中國(guó)和印度，足球卻是用來(lái)觀賞而不是參與的。中國(guó)和印度并不會(huì)參加巴西世界杯(實(shí)際上，只有中國(guó)對(duì)參加過(guò)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(guó)際足聯(lián)辯稱，這三個(gè)國(guó)家在足球方面的沉默源自于歷史文化和其它體育運(yùn)動(dòng)的強(qiáng)勢(shì)，尤其是印度的板球。但是足球已經(jīng)逐漸站穩(wěn)腳跟。在美國(guó)，第一代踢足球長(zhǎng)大的家長(zhǎng)已經(jīng)把習(xí)慣傳承給了他們自己的孩子。然而，這只能更加說(shuō)明國(guó)際足聯(lián)拒絕美國(guó)而把世界杯承辦權(quán)授予卡塔爾是多么的愚蠢。而彌漫著位于瑞士的國(guó)際足聯(lián)總部的污濁之氣也不能使中國(guó)的年輕球迷感到安心，他們正為中國(guó)國(guó)家足球隊(duì)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(tái)自然不錯(cuò)，但也不能解決國(guó)際足聯(lián)的組織結(jié)構(gòu)問(wèn)題。盡管國(guó)際足聯(lián)是在瑞士合法注冊(cè)的非盈利機(jī)構(gòu)，但是沒(méi)有人對(duì)它進(jìn)行管控。那些可能對(duì)其進(jìn)行管控的機(jī)構(gòu)，比如國(guó)家或者地區(qū)足球組織，卻又都依賴于國(guó)際足聯(lián)的資金。高門檻準(zhǔn)入導(dǎo)致很難產(chǎn)生競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，于是國(guó)際足聯(lián)壟斷了國(guó)際足球運(yùn)動(dòng)。像這樣的組織本應(yīng)接受監(jiān)管，但是國(guó)際足聯(lián)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(wú)可作為。瑞士方面可以要求清理或者撤回對(duì)國(guó)際足聯(lián)的稅收優(yōu)惠政策。贊助方也可以權(quán)衡腐敗問(wèn)題并從推行新技術(shù)入手。這一技術(shù)可以對(duì)點(diǎn)球和進(jìn)球判罰進(jìn)行及時(shí)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(wèn)題的難點(diǎn)在于承辦權(quán)的競(jìng)選過(guò)程。一種選擇是把世界杯舉辦權(quán)授予某個(gè)特定國(guó)家，讓它一直作為承辦國(guó)：但是這個(gè)國(guó)家的主場(chǎng)球隊(duì)就會(huì)大占優(yōu)勢(shì)，在比賽中也不用受時(shí)差的影響。經(jīng)濟(jì)合理的選擇是，把權(quán)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(quán)授予出價(jià)最高的投標(biāo)者。這樣的話，足球強(qiáng)國(guó)就會(huì)占優(yōu)。不過(guò)因?yàn)樗麄兇蠖家呀?jīng)擁有足球場(chǎng)，這樣也不會(huì)產(chǎn)生過(guò)多的浪費(fèi)，而且會(huì)激勵(lì)更多的國(guó)家去爭(zhēng)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(guó)際主義者，而不是理性的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家，所以我們的建議比不過(guò)英國(guó)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(jìn)行，這樣至少可以阻止洲內(nèi)腐敗。但是如果國(guó)際足聯(lián)蘇黎世總部沒(méi)有改變的話，所有這些設(shè)想都不會(huì)付諸實(shí)踐。

【重點(diǎn)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(dǎo)致;引起;通往

例句:The bell-boy led us to our rooms.

旅館服務(wù)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(gè)國(guó)家擺脫政治腐敗。

4.ought to 應(yīng)該;應(yīng)當(dāng)

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

我覺得我應(yīng)該去參加她父親的葬禮。