塞普布拉特(Sepp Blatter)认为，如果当初他成功实施了一项秘密计划、将世界杯(World Cup)主办权授予美国，现在他或许仍是世界足球的掌舵者。

　　The 79-year-old blamed American and Swiss authorities for forcing him to give up power by arresting several senior Fifa officials and threatening to prosecute Fifa as a mafia organisation.

　　79岁的布拉特指责美国和瑞士当局通过逮捕几名国际足联(Fifa)高官并威胁要把国际足联当作黑手党组织起诉，来迫使他放弃权力。

　　The US had decided to pursue Fifa, he claimed, after it was beaten in the race for the 2022 World Cup by Qatar. “It took a political dimension,” he said. “I am looking now to see what were the political reasons. The easiest thing would be to say [they are] bad losers.”

　　他声称，美国在2022年世界杯主办权的争夺中输给卡塔尔后，已决意对国际足联展开调查。他说：“这事有政治方面的因素。目前，我正在猜测背后的政治原因是什么。最简单的答案可能是（他们）输不起。”

　　In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Blatter said there had been a secret deal between Fifa’s top leaders to rig the vote.

　　在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，布拉特表示，国际足联高官之间曾达成一项秘密协议来操纵投票。

　　“The solution that has been agreed, not in writing, but it has been agreed [was] let’s go to the two superpowers in the vote for the World Cup: let’s go to Russia and let’s go to the United States,” he said. “And would this have been realised as it was foreseen, then I don’t know where I would be now. I would be on an island (on holiday)!”

　　“达成的解决方案虽然不是书面的，但确实得到了大家的同意，即在世界杯主办权表决中把票投给两个超级大国：投给俄罗斯，投给美国。”他说。“若此方案如预想的那样实现，那我不知道我现在会在哪里，也许会在某个岛上（度假）！”

　　Asked if Fifa’s full executive committee had decided on the deal, he said: “It was not a decision of the Exco. It was behind the scenes when we also said let us do two World Cups, let’s go to big markets. There was not a meeting where we came together. It was diplomatically arranged.”

　　在被问及是否国际足联的整个执委会都已决定执行这一方案时，他说：“这不是执委会的决定。这事发生在幕后，当时我们还表示要搞两届世界杯的投票，要把票投给大市场。我们没有聚在一起开个会。这事是动用交际手腕安排下的。”

　　But Mr Blatter said the pact had been disturbed by Michel Platini, head of European football’s governing body, who voted for Qatar together with three of his allies, after an intervention by Nicolas Sarkozy, the then French president.

　　不过，布拉特表示，这一协议却被欧洲足联(UEFA)主席米歇尔渠拉蒂尼(Michel Platini)打乱了。在时任法国总统的尼古拉萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)干预后，普拉蒂尼及其三位盟友把票投给了卡塔尔。

　　“I found out after having made this, let’s say, gentleman’s agreement where we shall go. Just one week before the election, I got a telephone call from Michel Platini and he said: ‘I am no longer in your picture because I have been told by the head of state that we should consider the situation of France,” said Mr Blatter.

　　布拉特表示：“我是在达成这个关于我们该把票投给谁的君子协定后才知道此事的。就在投票的一周前，我接到米歇尔渠拉蒂尼的电话，他说：‘我不会照你的设想办了，因为国家元首告诉我，我们应该考虑法国的处境。’”

　　Mr Blatter said he did not know why Mr Sarkozy had intervened. “I do not know that, I cannot enter into it,” he said. One month after Qatar won the World Cup, it said it was evaluating the purchase of French Rafale jet fighters to upgrade its fleet.

　　布拉特表示，他不知道萨科齐为什么要出手干预。在赢得世界杯主办权一个月后，卡塔尔表示，它正在评估是否购买法国的阵风(Rafale)战斗机，以升级本国的战斗机群。