国际足联主席布拉特称腐败丑闻令足球运动蒙羞

FIFA Re-Elect Blatter Despite Corruption¹ Scandal  国际足联主席布拉特称腐败丑闻令足球运动蒙羞

Sepp Blatter won a fifth term as FIFA president, while people around the world called for him to resign. The soccer organization has been rocked this week by arrests and corruption charges.

The 65th FIFA annual congress took place in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the same city where U.S. and Swiss authorities arrested senior FIFA officials at their luxury hotel two days ago.

The voting went beyond the first round before Mr. Blatter’s only opponent, Prince Ali bin² al Hussein of Jordan, gave up and said Mr. Blatter had won. The U.S. and European organizations backed Prince Ali and had called for change at the top of FIFA.

The 79-year-old Mr. Blatter has been the leader of FIFA since 1998. Several current vice-presidents under Mr. Blatter are among the 14 officials charged with corruption. The U.S. government says the crimes date back 24 years. Mr. Blatter says he did not do anything wrong, and he has not been charged with any crimes.

After winning the vote, Mr. Blatter said, “I am not perfect, nobody is perfect.” He added that he “takes the responsibility to bring back FIFA.”

Calls for Blatter to step down

In Berlin before the vote, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron called for Mr. Blatter to step down, saying “the sooner that happens the better." Mr. Cameron said, “you cannot have accusations³ of corruption at this level and on this scale in this organization and pretend that the person currently leading it is the right person to take it forward.”

Two major European football associations also had called on Mr. Blatter to resign before Friday’s election. But he refused to do so. Instead, Mr. Blatter called for unity⁴ among the FIFA members and he promised to work to overcome the group’s problems if he is re-elected.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S. corruption case. In televised comments he said that the case is an attempt by the U.S. to spread its legal control to other countries. American law says that if some part of the crime took place in the United States, then U.S. officials can arrest foreign citizens involved in those crimes.

Mr. Putin also said it was an “obvious attempt” by the U.S. to prevent Mr. Blatter’s reelection as FIFA president. Russia supports Mr. Blatter as head of FIFA.

More investigations⁶ on FIFA ahead

The U.S. Justice Department charged 14 people with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering⁷, among other offenses⁸.  All of these crimes, officials say go back to 1991. The defendants⁹ are alleged¹⁰ to have paid well over $150 million in bribes¹² and kickbacks¹³. They made those payments so they could get media and marketing¹⁴ rights to international soccer tournaments.

In addition to the U.S. case, Swiss authorities are conducting a separate investigation⁵. They are looking into charges connected to the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas spoke¹⁵ to the German daily Bild on Friday. He said those World Cup decisions can't stand if it turns out that votes were bought. Qatar said its bid for the World Cup was done with “integrity.”

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said Friday it is examining information about possible corruption at FIFA. But it has not begun a formal criminal investigation. The United Nations is reviewing its partnerships¹⁶ with FIFA following the corruption reports, a U.N. spokesman said Thursday.

Businesses to review sponsorships

Meanwhile, business sponsors are saying they might pull their support of the soccer organization. The credit card company Visa issued a statement expressing “profound” disappointment. Without reforms, Visa said, the company would look at its sponsorship of FIFA.

Coca-Cola said it has repeatedly expressed concerns about the allegations. It said it expects FIFA to thoroughly¹⁷ examine the issues. Adidas called on the soccer organization to “follow transparent¹⁸ compliance¹⁹ standards in everything they do.” Budweiser and McDonald’s also are reconsidering their sponsorships.

Words in This Story

corruption – n. dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people

luxury – adj. situation of wealth and great comfort

racketeering –n. crime of making money through illegal activities

wire fraud –n. crime of stealing money by using computers, telephones, etc.

money laundering –n. hiding the origins of illegally obtained money

alleged –adj. accused of having done something illegal but not yet proven guilty

bribe¹¹ – n.  something valuable, like money, given to get someone to do something

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

9 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

12 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

13 kickbacks   

n.激烈反应( kickback的名词复数 )；佣金，回扣

参考例句：

• Everyone at City Hall is receiving kickbacks. It's the only way to get anything done there. 市政府里的每个人都收回扣，在那里只有送红包，事情才办得成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• G raft or kickbacks paid to officials or law enforcem ent authorities. 暗中付给官员或执法人员的回扣。 来自互联网

14 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

17 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

18 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

19 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。