经济学人下载:美丽的运动,丑陋的政治

Redistribution in FIFA’s fief is called “development” spending, intended mainly to improve facilities and coaching in poor countries, which amounted to $794m in 2007-10. Some of this went into Goal, a programme set up by Mr Blatter that is now overseen by Mr Bin Hammam. The six regional confederations and the national associations also got an extra handout from the World Cup windfall in the form of “extraordinary” payments within FIFA’s Financial Assistance Programme. Finding a little extra money for voters just before an election is rarely a bad 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, the ditching in 2006 of MasterCard, FIFA’s long-term credit-card partner, for Visa—a decision which drew a scathing rebuke from a New York judge. Andrew Jennings, a British journalist who has long been a thorn in FIFA’s side, aired further claims of pockets lined and sins covered up 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（Andrew Jennings）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 the allegations against Mr Bin Hammam will have, no one knows. It is also hard to say how much would change should he, despite everything, manage to unseat Mr Blatter. Both men insist that FIFA 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。