VOA慢速英语2021 国际足联和欧洲足联反对12家俱乐部组建欧洲超级联赛

Imagine the World Cup in 2022 without many of the world's best soccer players.

想象一下2020世界杯有许多世界上最好的球星缺席。

That might happen.

这种事可能会发生。

Two of world soccer's most powerful¹ organizations are angry with 12 major European soccer clubs and are threatening to ban their players from the World Cup.

世界上权力最大的两家足球组织对12家欧洲重要足球俱乐部感到愤怒，并威胁要禁止其球员参加世界杯。

The 12 clubs want to set up their own organization of teams in a league they are calling the Super League. But Europe's main soccer body, UEFA, and international soccer's main governing body, FIFA, do not approve of the idea. They are considering banning players from the next European championship and the World Cup if their teams go ahead with plans to form the Super League.

这12家俱乐部希望在他们所谓的欧洲超级联赛下创建自己的足球组织。但是欧洲的主要足球机构欧洲足联以及国际足球的主要管理机构国际足联并不赞成这种想法。他们考虑如果这些球队继续推动组建欧洲超级联赛的计划，就要禁止这些球队的球员参加下届欧洲杯和世界杯。

One of the teams is England's Manchester City. That team has players from the national teams of England, Spain, France and Germany.

英格兰的曼城队就是其中的一支球队。该球队球员来自于英格兰、西班牙、法国和德国的国家队。

Others that plan to join the new league include Chelsea, Manchester United², Tottenham and Arsenal³ in England; Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain; and Juventus and A.C. Milan in Italy. They are among the most famous soccer teams in the world and have players from all over. Teams from France and Germany have not yet announced plans to join.

其它计划加入这一新联赛的球队包括英格兰的切尔西、曼联、热刺和阿森纳；西班牙的皇马和巴塞罗那；意大利的尤文图斯和AC米兰。这些都是世界上最著名的球队，他们的球员来自于世界各地。法国和德国的球队尚未宣布加入的计划。

While 12 teams have already agreed to form the Super League, the organization hopes to start with 15 and then have a total of 20. The goal would be to play in a tournament⁴ that is similar to UEFA's Champions League. The Champions League final is one of the most popular sporting events in the world each year. Soccer fans from all over the world watch the game on television.

12支球队已经同意组建欧洲超级联赛，该组织希望有15支创始球队，然后一共有20支球队参加。目标是打类似于欧冠的联赛。每年的欧冠决赛是世界上最受欢迎的体育赛事之一。来自于世界各地的球迷在电视上观看比赛。

Real Madrid's president, Florentino Perez, will be the first leader of the new league. It is financially supported by U.S. bank J.P. Morgan, which offered the teams about $4 billion. The announcement worried both leaders of European soccer and European political⁵ leaders.

皇马主席弗洛伦蒂诺·佩雷斯将成为这一新联盟的首任领导人。该联盟得到了美国摩根大通银行的财政支持，该行向这些球队提供了约40亿美元的资金。该公告让欧洲足球领导人和政治领导人都感到担忧。

UEFA is led by Aleksander Ceferin. He said he plans to ban both the teams and players from his organization's competitions. That would include both the Champions League and the upcoming Euro 2020 competition. The Euro 2020 will last for a month starting on June 11. It was postponed⁶ from last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

欧足联由亚历山大·塞弗林领导。他自称计划禁止这些球队以及其球员参加该组织的比赛。这将包括欧冠和即将到来的2020届欧洲杯。2020届欧洲杯将从6月11日开始，持续6个月时间。由于新冠肺炎大流行，该赛事已经从去年推迟至今。

Earlier this year, international soccer's governing body, FIFA, said players could be banned from the 2022 World Cup and said Sunday it "disapproved⁷" of the Super League.

今年年初，国际足球管理机构国际足联表示，可能会禁止这些球员参加2022年世界杯，并在周日表示反对欧洲超级联赛。

The British Prime⁸ Minister Boris Johnson said he wants to stop the league in its current⁹ form. The leaders of France and Italy also expressed concerns.

英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊表示，他希望联赛保持现有形式。法国和意大利领导人也表示关注。

The Super League clubs wrote a letter to UEFA's Ceferin and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. It said the new league wants to "compete with and exist alongside¹⁰" the other tournaments¹¹.

欧洲超级联赛俱乐部致信欧洲足联主席塞弗林以及国际足联主席因凡蒂诺。信中表示，该新联赛希望与其它比赛竞争并共存。

Why a new league?

为何发起新联赛？

One of the reasons the teams started the Super League is so they do not have to compete for the right to be in the Champions League. The current year's Champions League competition is made up of the top teams from the year before. If a famous team, like Manchester United, has a bad season, it will still be guaranteed a spot in the Super League.

这些球队发起欧洲超级联赛的原因之一是这样他们就不必去竞争欧冠的参赛资格。本年度的欧冠联赛由上一年度排名靠前的球队组成。如果像曼联这样的豪门经历一个糟糕的赛季，它仍然可以保证在超级联赛中占有一席之地。

Ceferin said the Super League is only about money. He argued UEFA is different because it develops soccer by giving money to teams all over Europe.

塞弗林表示，欧洲超级联赛只不过是为了钱。他认为欧洲足联就完全不同，因为它通过向全欧洲球队提供资金来发展足球。

The Super League news comes just a day before the start of a meeting between UEFA officials. In the meeting, they were expected to announce the expansion¹² of the Champions League.

超级联赛的新闻是在欧洲足联官方会议开始前一天发布的。有关官员在这次会议上有望宣布欧冠扩军。

1 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
• Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音！

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

3 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

4 tournament   

n.比赛，竞赛，锦标赛

参考例句：

• He was the best boxer in the tournament.他是本届联赛的最佳拳手。
• The Council resolved that the next tournament should be held in Shanghai.理事会决定下次比赛在上海举行。

5 political   

adj.政治上的，政党的，政略性的，政治的

参考例句：

• He was forced to leave his homeland for political reasons.因为政治原因他被迫离开自己的祖国。
• In ideas those two political parties are worlds apart.那两个政党在思想上有巨大分歧。

6 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

7 disapproved   

v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

9 current   

n.涌流，趋势，电流，水流，气流；adj.当前的，通用的，流通的，现在的，草写的，最近的

参考例句：

• Electric current is often powerful enough to kill a man.电流常强得足以致命。
• There is a story about her in the current number.最近一期上有关于她的故事。

10 alongside   

adv.在旁边；prep.和...在一起，在...旁边

参考例句：

• There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
• Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。

11 tournaments   

锦标赛，联赛( tournament的名词复数 )； 中世纪的骑士比武

参考例句：

• I had competed in three World Cup tournaments. That was enough. 我已参加过三届世界杯赛，够了。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Many chess tournaments are held every year. 每年都要举行多次国际象棋比赛。

12 expansion   

n.扩张，扩充；扩大；扩充物；扩展部

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The plan will give an impulse to industrial expansion.这个计划将促进工业的扩展。