藤儿点评：

问：Do you know what FIFA stand for（你知道FIFA代表什么 吗）?

答：F--- I, F--- America（意译为：同归于尽）。

问：Why can America do it（为什么由美国来查）?

答： The US Department of Justice has said they'll step up to investigate corruption if others won't（美国司法部表示如果其他人不站出来调查腐败，就由他们来做)。

......

诸君见谅，以上只是为了给足球迷们消消气罢了。其实美国也不想查，查下去还会查出美国的高官贪腐呀！一切都会适可而止！

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来源：BBC 2015-05-28

FIFA丑闻：为什么由美国来查？

美国人不喜欢足球，或者至少很多人都这么认为，但为什么如今国际足联（FIFA）腐败案的调查又是由美国来引领？

昨日凌晨，瑞士警方在美国当局的紧急授意下一网捞起了七名国际足联官员，而美国已经对世界足球管理机构的腐败问题展开了大规模的调查。

这个足球更多是非主流运动的国家，怎么变成了这个被英国人称为“美丽游戏”（beautiful game）的运动的监督者？

“有太多的国家都被FIFA唬住了，”国际足球的前任反贿赂顾问亚历桑德拉·瑞吉（Alexandra Wrage）说。她后来以辞职来抗议这个组织的腐败。

她说：“随着国际性的贿赂变得越来越普遍，美国司法部表示如果其他人不站出来调查腐败，就由他们来做。”

美国如何监督一项全球运动？

在瑞士的拘捕行动发生之后十几个小时，联邦调查局（FBI）局长詹姆斯·科米（James Comey）就在记者会上解释了美国为什么能够采取行动。

他说：“你的腐败行为一旦触及我们的国土，不管你是在这里开会还是在这里利用我们世界一流的金融系统，你都要为腐败行为负责。”

而人们发现很多足联官员是这两件事情都做过，至少根据有关方面的指控看来是如此。

美国当局只需要证明案件与美国有很轻微的联系，就能对他国公民作出检控。

但是在周三（5月27日）所公开的这些指控，在美国发生的腐败行为是直指这项运动的要害。

国际足联及其下属机构通过出卖世界杯和它们组织的其他赛事当中的市场营销和媒体传播权利来换取金钱。

有关的指控大部分与“系统性的贿赂和佣金”在关，市场营销人员支付这些贿款，以增加他们的企业赢取赛事营销和媒体传播合同的机会。

这些贿赂行为有时候是在美国进行的会议中组织的，有些钱也是通过美国的银行户口转账的。

是什么令美国开始展开调查？

在周三的记者会上，纽约东区的检察官凯利·库里（Kelly Currie）介绍了有关指控的涉及范围及规模。

“这一类贿赂和腐败在国际足坛已经持续了20年，”他说，“我们的调查……本身也花了好几年的时间。”

是什么具体事件——如果有的话——使美国决心展开调查，目前并不清楚。一些人指出，导火索是2010年末美国申办2022年世界杯失败，怀疑是有人通过贿赂鼓励有关人员将票投给卡塔尔。

《马克西姆斯大赛场：承办奥运会和世界杯背后的经济赌博》（Circus Maximus：The Economic gamble behind hosting the Olympics and the World Cup）一书的作者安德鲁·津巴利斯特（Andrew Zimbalist）说：“我认识美国申办委员会当中的一些人……他们全都严重怀疑有人被收买。”

他告诉BBC说，他怀疑司法部很可能是在申办失败之后介入的。

选择卡塔尔成为主办国引起质疑，一方面是因为那里的夏天极高的气温——这还使得FIFA的专责工作组建议世界杯比赛改在11月和12月进行，而不是常规时间表中的6月和7月。

在清晨作出逮捕之后的几个小时当中，瑞士当局表示，他们正在就2018年和2022年世界杯主办国竞选过程展开另一项独立调查。

美国与这宗案件关系有多大？

中北美及加勒比地区足协（CONCACAF）在迈阿密的办公室，周三早晨也被联邦调查局探员突击检查。

被美国起诉的官员当中有两人——杰弗吉·韦伯（Jeffrey Webb）和杰克·沃尔纳（Jack Warner）——分别是CONCACAF的现任和前任主席。

当局在这些突袭当中要搜查的是什么，目前并不清楚，但在这一天公开的指控当中有很多都与贿赂和佣金有关。 　　这些贿赂行为与该地区的世界杯预选赛、中北美及加勒比海金杯赛、中北美及加勒比地区冠军联赛以及其他几项赛事的媒体传播和市场推广权有关。

2016年美洲杯将在美国举行，这是该项赛事首次在南美洲以外的国家举办，它可能涉及的腐败丑闻成为了外界焦点。

美国司法部长洛丽塔·林奇（Loretta E. Lynch）说：“我们调查发现，本该是展现国际体育精神的赛事被当成了一个工具，在更广大的阴谋中将总数高达1.1亿美元（约合7100万英镑）的贿款塞进这些官员的口袋，这涉及了赛事相关专营权合法成本当中的将近三分之一。”

中北美及加勒比地区足协在过去也曾遇到过麻烦。

2012年，该足协曾向美国税务部门自首，承认有几年没有纳税。

该组织的高层之一是秘书长查克·布拉泽（Chuck Blazer），他还是国际足联执行委员会成员。

周三的消息透露，他在2013年已经就与腐败有关的几项指控认罪。

就在几个月前，《纽约每日新闻》（New York Daily News）曾报道称，布拉泽一直在给美国当局做线人。

该报指，他在2012年伦敦奥运会期间曾与一些足坛官员会面，用藏在钥匙扣中的麦克风收集情报。

该报道没有经过独立确认，而官员则说，腐败调查仍在进行中。

“没有人能够凌驾于法律之上，”FBI局长科米说，“我们不会停歇，直到我们传达出信息，表明事情不应该这样，他们必须要改变为止。”

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来源：BBC 2015-05-28

Fifa in crisis

America does not even like football, or so many people think. Why is it leading the charge against alleged Fifa corruption?

At dawn, Swiss police rounded up seven Fifa officials at the behest of US authorities who have conducted a massive investigation into corruption at football's governing body.

So how did a country where football is more niche than entrenched come to police the world's beautiful game?

"Too many countries are cowed by Fifa," said Alexandra Wrage, a former Fifa anti-bribery adviser who resigned in protest from the organisation.

"As with international bribery more generally, the US Department of Justice has said they'll step up to investigate corruption if others won't," she said.

How can the US police a global game?

The suspects were shielded from journalists by a white sheet

Speaking to reporters just hours after the arrests in Switzerland, FBI Director James Comey set out why the US was able to act.

"If you touch our shores with your corrupt enterprise, whether that is through meetings or through using our world class financial system, you will be held accountable for that corruption," he said.

As it turns out, the US charges accuse many of those football officials of doing both.

To prosecute cases that involve foreign nationals, US authorities need only prove a minor connection to the United States.

But in the case of the charges made public on Wednesday, the alleged corruption hit right at the heart of the game in the US.

FBI Director James Comey

Fifa and the confederations under it make money by selling the marketing and media rights to the World Cup and other tournaments that they organise.

The charges largely relate to "the systematic payment of bribes and kickbacks" that were paid by marketing executives who wanted to increase their chances at winning contracts for the rights to market and sell media access to tournaments.

These bribes were at times organised during meetings in the US, and some of the money was transferred through US bank accounts.

What sparked the US investigation?

At a news conference on Wednesday, the acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Kelly Currie, noted the scale of the allegations.

"This sort of bribery and corruption in international soccer has been going on for two decades. Our investigation...that itself took years," he said.

It is not clear what specific event - if any - prompted the US investigation. Some have pointed to the United States' failed bid in late 2010 to host the the 2022 World Cup, and suspicions that bribes were paid to encourage votes for Qatar.

"I know some people who were in the US bidding committee... They all had really strong suspicions that somebody was getting bought off," said Andrew Zimbalist, author of Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. He told the BBC that he suspected the justice department probably got involved following the failed bid.

The choice of Qatar raised suspicions in part because of the extremely high temperatures it experiences during the summer months - a fact that prompted a Fifa taskforce to recommend the games be played in November and December rather than the usual June-July timeframe.

In the hours after the dawn arrests, Swiss authorities said they were opening a separate investigation relating to the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

How deep are the US ties to the case?

The Miami offices of Concacaf, the football federation under Fifa that governs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, were raided by FBI agents early on Wednesday.

Two of the people who have been charged - Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner - are the current and past heads of Concacaf, respectively.

It is not clear what specifically the authorities are looking for in these raids, but many of the charges that were revealed today involve bribery and kickback schemes.

These schemes are related to the media and marketing rights for World Cup qualifying games in the Concacaf region, as well as the Concacaf Gold Cup, the Concacaf Champions League, and several others.

At the centre of some of these schemes was Traffic Sports USA, a sports marketing firm with ties to Brazil, and its owner Aaron Davidson. In another part of Miami, the FBI on Wednesday picked up Aaron Davidson , the president of Traffic Sports USA, who the Justice Department implicated in some of the bribery scandals.

The Copa America, which is set to be held for the first time outside of South America in 2016 when it will be played in the US, was highlighted for the corruption that surrounds it.

"Our investigation revealed that what should have been an expression of international sportsmanship was used as a vehicle in this broader scheme to line executives' pockets with bribes totalling $110 million [£71m], nearly a third of the legitimate cost of the rights to the tournaments involved," US Attorney General Lynch said during a news conference detailing the charges.

Concacaf has been in trouble in the past.

In 2012 Concacaf turned itself in to US tax authorities and admitted to not paying taxes for several years.

Chuck Blazer's plea was unsealed on Wednesday

Among those at the helm of the organisation was secretary general Chuck Blazer, who also served as a Fifa executive committee member.

It was also revealed on Wednesday that in 2013 he pleaded guilty to several charges related to corruption.

Just months ago, the New York Daily News reported that Mr Blazer has been working as an informant for US authorities.

The newspaper said that he met with football officials on the sidelines of the 2012 Olympics in London, and used a hidden microphone on a keychain to gather intelligence.

This report has not been independently confirmed. Officials say the corruption investigation is on-going.

"Nobody is above or beyond the law," FBI Director Comey said. "We will not stop until we send messages that this is not the way things should be and that they must be different".