2015年经济学人 精彩足球 肮脏交易

Beautiful game, dirty business

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

THE mesmerising wizardry of Lionel Messi and the muscular grace of Cristiano Ronaldo are joys to behold¹.

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 of humanity will watch at least part of the World Cup, which kicks off in Brazil on June 12th.

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 that helped Qatar win the hosting rights to the World Cup in 2022.

If that competition was fixed², 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 has been punished.

This only prompts other questions. Why on earth did anyone think holding the World Cup in the 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 doublecheck refereeing³ decisions?

And why is the world's greatest game led by such a group of mediocrities, notably⁴ Sepp Blatter, FIFA's boss since 1998?

In any other organisation⁵, 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But more than that, he seems hopelessly out of date; from sexist remarks about women to interrupting a minute's silence for Nelson Mandela after only 11 seconds,

the 78-year-old is the sort of dinosaur⁶ that left corporate⁷ boardrooms in the 1970s.

Nor is it exactly 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.

Our cheating rotten scoundrels are better than yours

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 turpitude⁸ is hardly unique. The International Olympic Committee, after all, faced a Qatar-like scandal over the awarding of the winter games in 2002

(though it has made a much bigger attempt to clean itself up). The boss of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, stands accused of bribery¹⁰ in Germany,

while American basketball has just had to sack an owner for racist¹¹ remarks. Cricket, the second-most-global sport, has had its own match-fixing scandals.

American football could be overwhelmed by compensation claims for injuries.

But football fans are wrong to think there is no cost to all this. First, corruption¹² 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 World Cup.

Under external pressure to reform, FIFA has recently brought in some good people, including a respected ethics¹³ tsar, Mark Pieth.

But who will listen to lectures about reform from an outfit¹⁴ whose public face is Mr Blatter?

Second, big-time corruption isn't victimless; nor does it end when a host country is chosen.

For shady regimes—the type that bribe⁹ football officials—a major sporting event is also a chance to defraud¹⁵ state coffers, for example by awarding fat contracts to cronies.

Tournaments that ought to be national celebrations risk becoming festivals of graft¹⁶.

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).

In FIFA's defence, the big three's reticence¹⁷ 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 foul¹⁸ air from FIFA's headquarters in Switzerland will hardly reassure¹⁹ young fans in China who are heartily²⁰ sick of the corruption and match-fixing in their domestic soccer leagues.

It would be good to get rid of Mr Blatter, but that would not solve FIFA's structural²¹ 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 natural monopoly over international football.

An entity²² like this should be regulated, but FIFA answers to no government.

All the same, more could be done. The Swiss should demand a clean-up or withdraw FIFA's favourable²³ tax status.

Sponsors should also weigh in on graft and on the need to push forward with new technology:

an immediate²⁴ video review of every penalty and goal awarded would be a start.

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.

An economically 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 auctioning²⁵ off that right to the highest bidder²⁶. 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 incentive²⁷ to win.

Sadly, soccer fans are romantic nationalists, not logical economists—so our proposal stands less chance of winning than England does.

One small step towards sanity²⁸ 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.

1 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 refereeing   

[计]仲裁，审稿工作，稿件评审

参考例句：

• I've spent too much time in my career refereeing staff/line disputes. 办事人员和第一线人员常常发生争执，我为解决这种争执花费了许多时间。 来自辞典例句
• Unfair refereeing in yesterday's match made the news again. 昨天的比赛中又爆出了“黑哨”丑闻！ 来自互联网

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

6 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 turpitude   

n.可耻；邪恶

参考例句：

• He was considered unfit to hold office because of moral turpitude.因为道德上的可耻行为，他被认为不适担任公务员。
• Let every declamation turn upon the beauty of liberty and virtue,and the deformity,turpitude,and malignity of slavery and vice.让每一篇演讲都来谈自由和道德之美，都来谈奴役和邪恶之丑陋、卑鄙和恶毒。

9 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

10 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

11 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

14 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

15 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

16 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

17 reticence   

n.沉默，含蓄

参考例句：

• He breaks out of his normal reticence and tells me the whole story.他打破了平时一贯沈默寡言的习惯，把事情原原本本都告诉了我。
• He always displays a certain reticence in discussing personal matters.他在谈论个人问题时总显得有些保留。

18 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

19 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

20 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

21 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

22 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

23 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

24 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

25 auctioning   

v.拍卖( auction的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Army is auctioning off a lot of old equipment. 军队正在把大量旧装备拍卖掉。 来自辞典例句
• So she's auctioning off a chance to go to an awards dinner? 那么她在拍卖与她共赴晚宴的机会了？ 来自电影对白

26 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

27 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

28 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。