经济学人下载:美丽的运动,丑陋的政治

To some, FIFA’s politics stank even before this. Earlier this month the former chairman of the Football Association, which runs the game in England, told British MPs that four members of the executive committee, which decides where World Cups should be held, had asked for, or hinted at wanting, payment in cash, kind or honour for their votes on the 2018 tournament. (Mr Warner was one of them.) The British press has unearthed other claims regarding votes for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Those involved in all this deny doing wrong; and accusations from Britain carried a whiff of bad grace, because England’s bid for 2018 failed miserably. The latest claims, though, come from the heart of FIFA’s political structure.

对有些人来说，国际足联的政治在此之前就臭名昭著了。本月初，该组织某位前任主席、管理英格兰足球的人告知英国议员们国际足联执委会的四位成员曾要求、或者暗示想得到现金支付或承诺来换取他们手中为2018年世界杯举办权的投票（沃纳先生是其中之一）。执委会决定世界杯的举办地。英国媒体曾挖出其他针对2018年和2022年世界杯举办地评选的指控。涉及于此的人士均否认自己有过失；而英国的指控带了些许恶意，因为英格兰参加了2018年世界杯举办的竞选但大败而归。尽管最新的指控来自国际足联最核心的政治结构。

For good or ill, FIFA has much in common with governments whose territories are marked by customs posts rather than goalposts. Like national governments, sporting bodies provide collective goods for their citizens, notes Stefan Szymanski, an economist at in London. They also 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 use their 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” are overseen by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), on which FIFA has four votes and 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 and players, as well as commentators and fans, the IFAB has been too slow to allow modern technology, 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（International Football 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。