2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：国际足联主席选举

　　For good or ill, FIFA has much in common with governments whose territories are marked bycustoms posts rather than goalposts. Like national governments, sporting bodies providecollective goods for their citizens, notes Stefan Szymanski, an economist at in London. Theyalso raise revenue and redistribute wealth. And they are prone to poor administration and to“rent-seeking”—attempts by interest groups, officials and other well-connected people to usetheir position to gain influence or wealth.

　　不论好坏，国际足联都同领土由海关而非球门柱分界的政府有很多相似之处。伦敦卡斯商学院的经济学家斯蒂芬??西曼斯基(Szymanski)称正如国家的政府一样，运动组织也向他们的市民提供集体财产。它们也提高财政收入，再分配财富。它们易于缺乏管理和“寻租”——利益集团、官员和其他关系紧密者通过自己的地位来获取势力和财富的行为。

　　Start with public goods: in sport, the rules are the most fundamental. Football’s “laws” areoverseen by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), on which FIFA has four votesand the national associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have one each,a legacy of the game’s British birth. Six votes are needed for a decision. To many coaches andplayers, as well as commentators and fans, the IFAB has been too slow to allow moderntechnology, rather than officials’ eyesight, to decide whether the ball has crossed the goal-line.Many other sports have embraced video and electronic gadgetry at their higher levels.

　　首先从集体财产说起：在运动中，规则是最根本的。足球的“法律”由国际足球联合理事会(InternationalFootball Association Board)监督，这个组织共有八名成员，其中四名来自国际足联，另外四名来自该运动的诞生地英国：英格兰、北爱尔兰、苏格兰和威尔士各一票。要通过一个决定需要六票。对很多教练和运动员以及评论家和球迷来说，在让现代科技而不是官员们的势力来决定到底一个球是不是进了这个问题上国际足球联合理事会的许可太慢了。其他很多运动在较高水平的比赛中已经引进了录像和电子器械。

　　A sport’s governors are also supposed to crackdown on match-fixing. Football has been dogged byscandals in this area. The latest involved gamblingrings in Asia and eastern Europe, and matchesranging from the lower reaches of European leaguesto friendly internationals. On May 9th Mr Blatterannounced a joint effort with Interpol, the globalpolice agency, to stamp out this blight.

　　一项运动的管理者还应该严厉制裁操作比赛的行为。足球一直为假球丑闻困扰。最新的丑闻涉及亚洲和东欧的赌球圈子和各级别的比赛，从级别比较低的欧洲联赛到国际友谊赛。5月9日，布拉特宣布同全球警察机构国际刑警携手铲除这个祸害。

　　In a clearer example of a public good, football’s masters have helped create a global market intalent and entertainment. This reflects a shift in FIFA’s balance of power away from Europewhich began in the 1970s, in healthy contrast with Euroheavy bodies like World Bank and theIMF. When Mr Blatter’s predecessor, Jo??o Havelange, a Brazilian, ousted Sir Stanley Rous, anEnglishman, in 1974 it was partly by promising non-Europeans more places at the World Cup.The 1978 tournament featured only 16 national teams, ten of them from Europe; since 1998there have been 32 slots, with more for Asia, Africa, and North and Central America or theCaribbean.

　　足球也对公众有有利的一面，一个比较清晰的例子是足球管理者们帮助创造了一个既有才华又不乏娱乐的全球性市场。这反映了国际足联的力量平衡从20世纪70年代以欧洲为重心转移了出来，与此形成对比的是欧元区一些臃肿的机构，如世界银行(World Bank)和国际货币组织(IMF)。布拉特先生的前任巴西人乔??阿维兰热(Joao Havelange).在1974年把英国人斯坦利??鲁斯爵士(Sir Stanley Rous)赶下台，他成功的部分原因是他承诺为更多非欧洲国家提供世界杯的席位。1978年举办的世界杯只有16支国家队参赛，其中10支来自欧洲。自1998年起，世界杯决赛阶段参赛国一直是32个，亚洲、非洲和中北美或加勒比海地区得到更多的名额。

　　This has not stopped European countries winning the past two World Cups. And it has helpedEurope’s clubs and national leagues. Teams such as Barcelona and Manchester United, whomeet in the European Champions League final in London on May 28th, have fans all over theworld. That means more money from television and merchandise. Globalisation has alsodeepened the pool of talent on which European clubs can draw.

　　这并未阻止欧洲国家赢得刚过去的两届世界杯冠军。它对欧洲俱乐部和国家队非常有利。5月28日将在欧冠赛决赛相遇的巴塞罗那队和曼联队在世界各地都有球迷。这意味着从电视和专卖商品更多地获利。全球化还扩大了人才库，欧洲俱乐部可以从中吸纳更多人才。

　　Yet there are costs for clubs in Europe and elsewhere. They must release their players forWorld Cup and other international matches, from which the stars may return tired or hurt. Theymay view this as a tax in kind, even though FIFA paid them $40m in all for the use of players inthe 2010 World Cup.

　　但是欧洲和其他地区的俱乐部也付出了代价。他们必须放球员去参加世界杯和其他国际赛事，比赛过后这些巨星们也许会劳累或受伤而归。即使国际足联为参加2010年世界杯的球员付给俱乐部4000万美元，俱乐部也可以把球员的疲劳或受伤看做一种赋税。

　　FIFA may not raise true taxes, but it finds revenue easier to come by than many nationalgovernments do. It has become increasingly adept at exploiting the power of the World Cup todraw a global audience. “France [in 1998] was the last poor World Cup,” said Mr Blatter thisweek. In 2007-10 FIFA’s revenue was $4.2 billion, up from $2.6 billion in the four years beforethat. Most of it came from the 2010 World Cup: television rights yielded $2.4 billion andmarketing rights $1.1 billion.

　　国际足联不会提高真正的税费，但是它的收入来得比很多国家政府要容易。它越来越精于利用世界杯的力量来吸引全世界关注。“法国世界杯(1998年)是最后一届赔本的世界杯，”本周布拉特先生说。在2007年到2010年间，国际足联的收入为42亿美元，比上一个四年的26亿美元提高了不少。大多数的收入来自2010年世界杯：电视转播权获得24亿美元而市场开发权则获得11亿美元。

　　Redistribution in FIFA’s fief is called “development”spending, intended mainly to improve facilities andcoaching in poor countries, which amounted to$794m in 2007-10. Some of this went into Goal, aprogramme set up by Mr Blatter that is nowoverseen by Mr Bin Hammam. The six regionalconfederations and the national associations also gotan extra handout from the World Cup windfall in theform of “extraordinary” payments within FIFA’sFinancial Assistance Programme. Finding a little extramoney for voters just before an election is rarely abad idea.

　　国际足联地界上的财富再分配被称作“发展”支出，主要旨在改善贫穷国家的设施和训练情况，在2007年-2010年间这笔指出为7.94亿美元。有些投入到了由布拉特设立、现在由哈曼先生监管的项目“目标”(Goal)里。六个地区性协会和国家级足协也额外得到了世界杯横财的施舍物，是国际足联金融援助计划以“额外的”支付形式发放的。选举前夕，给投票者找点额外之财一般都不是坏主意。

　　As for poor government, FIFA has been supplying examples for years. Take, as just one, theditching in 2006 of MasterCard, FIFA’s long-term credit-card partner, for Visa—a decisionwhich drew a scathing rebuke from a New York judge. Andrew Jennings, a British journalistwho has long been a thorn in FIFA’s side, aired further claims of pockets lined and sins coveredup in a BBC documentary on May 23rd.

　　至于贫穷的政府，国家足联长年都提供参考。仅举一个例子，2006年国际足联抛弃了长期以来的信用卡合作伙伴万事达卡(Mastercard)转而与维萨卡(Visa)合作——这一决定引来一名纽约法官的严厉责难。5月23日播出的一部BBC纪录片里，一直以来都是国际足联眼中钉、肉中刺的英国记者安德鲁.叶林斯(AndrewJennings)又揭露出一些有关不义之财和违反道德的黑幕。

　　Despite all this, FIFA’s electors have not seemed ready for revolution. What effect theallegations against Mr Bin Hammam will have, no one knows. It is also hard to say how muchwould change should he, despite everything, manage to unseat Mr Blatter. Both men insist thatFIFA is not corrupt; Mr Bin Hammam has made much of the need for more “transparency”.Certainly, the world’s most popular game needs a better government than the one it has.

　　除此以外，国际足联的选民们似乎还没准备好发动一次变革。没人知道阿曼先生面临的指控到底会有什么影响。也很难讲如果，不管怎样，他成功把布拉特赶下台，到底会有多少变化发生。他们两位都坚称国际足联并不腐败。毫无疑问的是，这项世界最受欢迎的运动需要一个比现在更好的政府。

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