AT THE World Football Museum in Zurich, run by FIFA, football’s global governing body, visitors take their photo with the World Cup trophy, try their hand at match commentary and gawk at artefacts ranging from the original handwritten set of the rules of the game to the yellow card famously shown to Paul Gascoigne, a lachrymose English footballer, in 1990. Those wanting a glimpse of the luxurious bedsheets that were used to shield FIFA officials as they were hustled out of a ritzy Swiss hotel in 2015 having been arrested on corruption charges may feel cheated—they are not on display.

在苏黎世国际足联（FIFA）世界足球博物馆（World Football Museum）里，游客们兴奋地同世界杯奖杯合影，饶有兴趣地尝试解说比赛，流连忘返地凝视着展柜里各式各样的纪念品，从比赛规则的手写原件到泪洒赛场的英格兰足球运动员保罗·加斯科因（Paul Gascoigne）在1990年吃到的那张黄牌。不过，倘若游客想要一睹2015年国际足联受贿的官员在瑞士一家豪华酒店被捕时盖在身上的床单，或许会感到被欺骗了，因为它们并不在陈列展品之中。

If FIFA’s shrine to itself ignores this squalid period of its history, its balance-sheet bears the traces. FIFA lost $369m in 2016, triple the losses of the year before, and forecasts a loss of $489m in 2017. Reserves, which have been above $1bn since 2008, are predicted to fall to $605m next year.

倘若世界足球博物馆这块国际足联的圣地刻意回避这段黑历史的话，那么国际足联的财务状况将承受这一回避带来的后果。2016年，国际足联亏损了3.69亿美元，是2015年亏损额的三倍，而且预计2017年损失将会扩大至4.89亿美元。国际足联的储备金自2008年以来一直保持在10亿美元以上，然而，这一数字预计在2017年也将跌至6.05亿美元。

The latest loss is partly because of higher development funding for member football associations, and partly because of accounting changes on how costs and revenue are booked. But the probes into alleged bribery and corruption launched by American and Swiss law-enforcement officials have not helped. FIFA’s legal bills rose from $20m in 2015 to $50m in 2016. Its financial statements also bemoan a series of “ill-considered” investments, including the museum, which cost $190m and has failed to attract many visitors.

国际足联近期的亏损主要来自两方面。一是由于足联成员国的发展基金有所提高，二是由于收支的会计记账方式发生了调整。尽管美国和瑞士执法官员联合发起了针对国际足联的贪腐调查，对于改善亏损局面仍无济于事。国际足联的法务支出从2015年的2000万美元上升至2016年的5000万美元；财务报表也显示出一系列欠考虑的投资项目，其中就包括这座世界足球博物馆，国际足联斥资1.9亿美元，建成后却未能如预期般吸引大量游客。

FIFA still thinks it will meet its revenue target of $5.6bn over the 2015-18 cycle, thanks to a steep rise in revenue from the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But that depends on money from television and sponsorship. Several sponsors, including Sony, Emirates and Castrol, have not renewed their contracts. With less than a year to go before the tournament, FIFA has lined up only 12 sponsors out of the 34 slots on offer. It has attracted one local backer, the Moscow-based Alfa-Bank, and is without a broadcaster to carry the games in the host country. At the same stage before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, most sponsorship slots were filled, with many deals agreed to years in advance. “With one year to go, this situation is unheard of,” says Michael Payne, a former marketing chief for the International Olympic Committee.

由于预计能在2018年俄罗斯世界杯上狠赚一笔，国际足联对于在2015-2018年周期内实现56亿美元的收入目标仍信心满满。然而，这一目标的实现离不开电视台及赞助商的资金。目前包括索尼、阿联酋航空及英国润滑油生产商嘉实多在内的几大赞助商都尚未续签合同。距离世界杯只有不到一年时间了，国际足联却只找到12家赞助商，离所需34家赞助商的要求还差很远。在举办国俄罗斯当地，国际足联成功吸引莫斯科的阿尔法银行（Alfa-Bank）成为赞助商，却仍未找到一家俄罗斯电视台实时播送赛况。2014年巴西世界杯正式举办前的这个时候，绝大多数赞助商名额早已占满，有很多甚至签订的是多年的赞助合约。“只剩下一年了，赞助商名额却还有好多空缺，这真是闻所未闻。”国际奥委会前营销主席麦克尔·佩恩（Michael Payne）如是感叹道。

FIFA’s latest sponsorship deal is with China’s Vivo, a smartphone-maker. It is the third Chinese firm to back FIFA; the country is believed to be considering a World Cup bid of its own. Chinese firms’ stance appears to be that FIFA is changing after its scandal. But questions remain. In May FIFA replaced a judge and a prosecutor serving on its ethics committee with new people. The outgoing officials were responsible for the investigations that led to the suspension of Sepp Blatter, a former FIFA president, and other top officials. They claimed that their dismissal, with hundreds of investigations in progress, would mean the “de facto end to the reform efforts”. Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s new boss, described it as a “storm in a teacup”. That message, like FIFA’s broadcast rights, may prove a tough sell.

最近，中国的智能手机制造商Vivo与国际足联签订了赞助合约。这是第三家赞助国际足联的中国企业了，外界认为中国正有意考虑申办世界杯。中国企业的行为似乎表明，国际足联继丑闻后正在努力改变形象，然而，它依旧存在许多问题。5月，国际足联从道德委员会中替换了一名裁判和一名检察人员。这两位官员曾负责前国际足联主席塞普·布拉特（Sepp Blatter）和几位高层渎职一案的调查，并最终导致其停职。布拉特和其他几位官员表示，在几百项调查还在进行当中时就匆匆对他们进行撤职，这意味着国际足联的改革走向“实际意义上的终结”。国际足联的新主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）却将此事描述为“小题大做”。这样的回应就像国际足联的转播权很难卖出去一样，恐怕很难让人接受。

编译：张玺元

编辑：翻吧君

英文来源：经济学人