VOA常速英语:As Russia Readies For World Cup Kick-Off, Critics Accuse Moscow and FIFA of Foul Play

Forget the politics and protests.
忘掉政治和抗议吧。

For these young Russians the World Cup is about one thing only, football.“I am absolutely thrilled, because the World Cup is being held in Russia.I would like our national team to reach at least the quarter-final and ideally win the World Cup.”That may be a little too much to hope for, but the visit of soccer superstars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has set many young hearts racing. “Because they are famous and they invented so many tricks.”Dmitry Kholnov heads the soccer school in the outskirts of Moscow.“There is a golden phrase sport is beyond politics.I very much want to believe that people throughout the world feel the same way.”
对这些年轻的俄罗斯人来说，世界杯只关乎一件事——足球。我非常激动，因为世界杯正在俄罗斯举行。我希望我们的国家队至少打入四分之一决赛，并且最好能赢得世界杯。这可能有点难以实现，但是像梅西和罗纳尔多这样的足球巨星的到来就足以让很多年轻人心驰神往。因为他们很有名，他们发明了很多技巧。德米特里·科霍尔诺夫是莫斯科郊区一所足球学校的校长。有一句名言即体育超越政治。我非常想相信全世界的人们都有同样的感受。

There are plenty who disagree. The cost of hosting this World Cup is estimated at about 14 billion dollars. The most expensive ever in a country with huge wealth inequality.That money has bought new infrastructure and several huge stadiums.St. Petersburg’s Christoph’s key arena was completed eight years behind schedule and four times over budget.A local official was charged with taking a 351000 dollar bribe during construction.City authorities say the end result is worth it.
很多人不同意这一点。举办此次世界杯的费用估计约140亿美元。在一个贫富差距巨大的国家里，这是有史以来最昂贵的一笔钱。这笔钱已经购买了一些新的基础设施和建设几个大型体育场馆。圣彼得堡的克里斯托夫这座关键竞技场馆比预定时间晚了8年，花费比预算多了4倍。一名当地官员被指控在施工期间收受了351000美元的贿赂。市政当局说最终的结果是值得的。

“From my point of view, it’s the best European Stadium at the moment.”Nizhny Novgorod the birthplace of writer Maxim Gorky has a new 45000 seats stadium. “There are not 40000 soccer fans in Nizhny Novgorod. There is no real soccer team, either. Why do we need a stadium like this?”The World Cup organizing body FIFA itself mired in historical corruption cases has praised Russia’s preparations. Sports journalist Alexey Matveev says FIFA has willfully ignored rampant criminality.“Corruption in football theft even outright murder in the field of sports, none of these are investigated.I mean that is just the Russian reality. Nobody here does anything. I’m still quite amazed, if not outraged about how it was possible to give the World Cup to Russia with such a corrupt football industry.
在我看来，这是整个欧洲目前最好的体育馆。大作家马克西姆·高尔基的出生地下诺夫哥罗德建成了一座可容纳45000人的新体育场。下诺夫哥罗德没有4万球迷。也没有真正的足球队。为什么我们需要这样的体育场？世界杯组织机构国际足联本身就已经深陷腐败的泥潭，还对俄罗斯的准备工作表示赞赏。体育记者亚历克斯·马特维耶夫说国际足联故意无视猖獗的犯罪行为。足球界的腐败、偷盗甚至体育界彻头彻尾的谋杀，没有任何人想要站出来调查。我说这都只是俄罗斯的现实，没有任何人做出任何举动。我仍觉得十分惊奇，把世界杯举办权交给俄罗斯这样一个足球业如此腐败的国家怎么就没有人为此感到愤怒呢？

Moscow rejects such accusations and hopes the politics will be forgotten after the opening kick-off Thursday.When the hosts take on Saudi Arabia in Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium watched over by Russian President Vladimir Putin. With so much economic and political capital invested the Kremlin is banking on a successful tournament.
莫斯科方面拒不接受这样的指责，并希望在周四的开幕式之后能把政治抛在脑后。当东道主在莫斯科卢日尼基体育场迎战沙特阿拉伯代表队时，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在一旁观看了比赛。由于投入了如此多的经济和政治资本，克里姆林宫正指望举办一场成功的锦标赛。

Henry Ridgwell for VOA News London.
VOA记者亨利·里奇维尔伦敦播报。