美国国家公共电台 NPR 欧洲超级联赛成立 遭到各方炮轰批评反对

To a huge shake-up now in the world of soccer — a dozen of the richest teams in the world's most popular sport have announced they are forming their own league. Clubs, including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, are breaking away from established competition to start what they are calling the European Super League.

现在来关注足球界的巨大变革——这个世界上最受欢迎的运动项目中最富有的十几支球队宣布，他们将组建自己的联赛。曼联、皇家马德里和尤文图斯等俱乐部将脱离既定竞争，开始他们称之为的欧洲超级联赛。

Those who are not breaking away are not happy. European soccer's governing body, UEFA, has called it a, quote, "disgraceful and self-serving proposal." And Roger Bennett is not particularly happy either. He is co-host of "Men In Blazers" on NBC Sports Network, and he i?s accustomed to explaining European football to Americans.

但不脱离的人并不高兴。欧洲足球管理机构欧足联称这是“可耻和自私的提议”。罗杰·班纳特也不是很高兴。他是NBC体育网播客节目《Men In Blazers》的联合主持人，他习惯于向美国人解释欧洲足球。

Sir Roger Bennett, welcome back. Thanks for coming to help us out again.

罗杰·班纳特爵士，欢迎你再次做客节目。谢谢你再次提供帮助。

ROGER BENNETT: Oh, Mary Louise, it's a joy to be with you even after a historic, harrowing 24 hours for global football.

罗杰·班纳特：噢，玛丽·路易斯，能和你一起真是一件快乐的事，即使我刚刚经历了国际足球界具历史性且可怕的24小时。

KELLY: (Laughter) Well, explain what this means. How would this work? What is the Super League?

凯利：（笑）请解释一下。这是怎么回事？什么是欧洲超级联赛？

BENNETT: The idea is that 12 of the biggest, richest teams in Europe have all signed up to form a breakaway league funded by JPMorgan, in which the six biggest clubs from England and then three each from Italy and Spain will form their own closed competition. In American terms, it's a bit like as if Duke, North Carolina and Kansas announced they'd have a breakaway from March Madness, in which they're guaranteed participation¹ every single year. It's really an enormous decision point, which will transform European soccer, possibly destroy the Premier² League. And that's devastating³.

班纳特：他们的设想是，欧洲12支最大、最富有的球队组建由摩根大通出资的独立联赛，其中包括6支英格兰最大的球队，以及3支意大利球队和3支西班牙球队，他们将组建自已的封闭竞赛。在美国，这有点像杜克大学、北卡罗莱纳大学和堪萨斯大学宣布他们将脱离每年都会参加的“疯狂三月”（即NCAA锦标赛）。这真是重大的决策点，这个决定将改变欧洲足球，甚至可能摧毁英超联赛。这可以说是毁灭性的。

KELLY: The Premier League being the national league in England. Go on.

凯利：英超是英格兰的国家联赛。请继续。

BENNETT: Correct. It's all we have left — the royal family, "Downton Abbey," the tweed industry and the Premier League. And none of those are in great shape right now, Mary Louise.

班纳特：没错。现在我们英国的代表只剩下皇室、《唐顿庄园》、粗花呢行业和英超联赛。但是，玛丽·路易丝，这些现在情况都不太好。

KELLY: What is driving this? Is this all about money?

凯利：这是什么原因？都是为了钱吗？

BENNETT: You've got it nail on the head. I mean, European football is a "Star Wars" cantina of leagues played domestically in each nation, and the best teams also play each other in a myriad⁴ of continental⁵ contests. The best known is the Champions League, and they're run by a group called UEFA. And the big teams in the world who are all now enormous moneymaking machines, global brands — your Barcelonas, your Real Madrids, Liverpools, Manchester Uniteds, Chelseas — they all feel like they bring more to the European competition in terms of brand prestige and viewing eyes and no longer want to share that revenue with the smaller clubs. They want to do their own thing. And right now they're risking killing⁶ the goose that laid the golden egg so that they can maximize their return.

班纳特：你真是一针见血。欧洲足坛就像《星球大战》中的酒馆，每个国家的联赛都在本国国内进行，最优秀的球队也会在无数的洲际赛事中互相较量。最有名的洲际赛事是欧冠，由欧足联（简称UEFA）运作。世界上的大球队现在都是巨大的赚钱机器，也是全球品牌，比如巴萨、皇家马德里，利物浦、曼联、切尔西等球队，他们都认为自已给欧洲的竞争带来了更多的品牌声望和观赏性，他们不想继续与小俱乐部分享收入。他们想做自己想做的事。现在，他们冒着杀死下金蛋的鹅的风险，以求最大限度地获得回报。

KELLY: Well, people may be gathering⁷ where you fall on this issue. I saw your tweet that it takes a lot to make World Cup in Qatar the second-worst idea ever in world football history.

凯利：人们可能会猜测你对这个问题的看法。我看到你在推特上发文称，要让卡塔尔世界杯成为世界足球史上第二糟糕的想法，需要付出很多。

BENNETT: (Laughter).

班纳特：（笑声）。

KELLY: Sum up for me some of the other notable responses to this. There is a lot of opposition⁸.

凯利：请总结一下其他值得注意的回应。有很多反对意见。

BENNETT: There's a lot of opposition. UEFA, the controlling body in Europe — their response has been instant and brutal⁹. They've threatened to ban any player who plays in a Super League from playing in the World Cup or the European competition. They won't be allowed to play for their national teams. The president, Aleksander Ceferin, said, quote, "greed allows all human values to evaporate." The fan backlash has been instant and enormous. Liverpool fans put an enormous black banner outside their stadium this morning that says, rest in peace, Liverpool, 1892-2021.

班纳特：有很多人反对。比如欧足联，即欧洲足球管理机构，他们的反应迅速又残酷。他们威胁要禁止任何加入欧洲超级联赛的球员参加世界杯或欧洲杯的比赛。这些球员将不能为国家队比赛。欧足联主席亚历山大·塞弗林表示，“贪婪让所有人类价值蒸发”。球迷的抵制迅速又庞大。利物浦球迷今天早上在利物浦主场外挂了一个巨大的黑色横幅，上面写着：安息吧，利物浦，1892-2021年。

KELLY: Wow.

凯利：哇哦。

BENNETT: And take it from me, Mary Louise, pissing off hundreds of thousands of Liverpudlians — Scousers — it rarely ends well.

班纳特：玛丽·路易斯，我敢保证，这一决定惹恼了数十万名利物浦球迷，这很少有好结果。

KELLY: Given all that, is this a done deal? Is this actually going to happen?

凯利：既然如此，这是已经确定的事情了吗？这真的会发生吗？

BENNETT: Well, it does seem serious. It seems like this is no bluff¹⁰. It's no power play just to force UEFA to shape their competitions to provide more money to bigger teams. The team owners I've spoken to assure me that they are serious about the Super League starting in the next couple of months. There's a lot to go down at every single level — government, football bureaucracy. But it's going to be nothing less than a civil war within the world of football.

班纳特：看起来确实很严肃认真。看似并非虚张声势。仅仅为了迫使欧足联改变他们的竞争格局，为更大的球队提供更多的资金，这并不是权势博弈。接受我采访的球队老板向我保证，他们对计划在几个月之后开启的欧洲超级联赛是认真的。在每一个层面上都有很多事情要做，比如政府、足球官僚机构等。而这将成为足球界的一场内战。

KELLY: That is Roger Bennett of the podcast "Men In Blazers."

凯利：以上是播客《Men In Blazers》的主持人罗杰·班纳特进行的介绍。

Roger Bennett, always a pleasure — thank you.

罗杰·班纳特，谢谢你。

BENNETT: Courage.

班纳特：不客气。

1 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

2 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

5 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

10 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。