布拉特承諾Fifa將有新主席和新開始

Sepp Blatter has backed potentially wide-ranging reforms of Fifa, football’s world governing body, as he kicked-off a protracted election to select his successor.

塞普布拉特(Sepp Blatter)已對潛在涉及面很大的國際足聯(Fifa)改革表示了支持。他還啓動了一個耗時的選舉流程，以選擇他在這個足球運動管理機構的繼任者。

The Fifa president yesterday pledged to ensure a fresh start for the organisation by the time he steps down, including term limits for top Fifa executives and transparency on pay.

昨天，這位國際足聯主席承諾要確保該組織在他卸任之時有一個新的開始，包括對國際足聯最高管理人員的任期加以限制，以及提高薪資透明度。

His announcement after a Fifa executive committee meeting in Zürich was short on detail, and his press conference was interrupted at the start by an intruder who threw fake banknotes over the Fifa president to protest against corruption in the sport.

布拉特是在國際足聯執委會在蘇黎世開會後作出上述宣佈的，他並未提供太多細節。而他的記者會一開始就被一位闖入者打斷。這名闖入者將假的鈔票扔向這位國際足聯主席，抗議足球運動中的腐敗行爲。

Mr Blatter’s announcement follows US allegations in May that Fifa executives took bribes of more than $150m in a culture of “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption.

布拉特作出表態前，美國於今年5月指控稱，國際足聯多名高管收受逾1.5億美元賄賂，該組織存在“猖獗、系統性、根深蒂固的”腐敗文化。

Last week, an official was extradited to the US from Switzerland, one of seven arrested at a Swiss hotel in May and held in connection with the FBI inquiries.

上週，一名官員被從瑞士引渡至美國。今年5月，7名國際足聯官員在美國聯邦調查局(FBI)主導的調查中在瑞士一家酒店被捕，目前仍然在押，上述被引渡官員即爲這7人之一。

Mr Blatter was re-elected president despite the US legal actions but then announced a few days later that he would step down.

儘管美國採取了上述法律行動，布拉特還是成功地再次當選國際足聯主席。不過，他在當選幾天後宣佈將辭去這一職位。

Mr Blatter also dashed speculation he might reconsider, saying he would not be a candidate for re-election and that a “new president” would be elected at an extraordinary Fifa congress in February. He insisted that, until then, “I’m still the elected president”.

布拉特還粉碎了關於他可能重新考慮辭職決定的猜測，稱他不會作爲候選人蔘加國際足聯主席的重新選舉，明年2月的國際足聯特別代表大會將選出一位“新主席”。布拉特堅稱，在那之前，“我還是選舉產生的主席”。

The 79-year-old, who has worked at Fifa for more than 40 years, provoked amusement by announcing he planned a new career as a radio journalist specialising in geopolitics, adding, “if someone accepts me”.

79歲的布拉特已在Fifa工作逾40年，他宣稱打算去做一個專長於地緣政治的電臺記者，開啓新的職業生涯，並補充稱“如果有人要我的話”，此言逗樂了記者們。

Fifa announced that candidates to succeed Mr Blatter would have to declare before October 26. Possible successors include Michel Platini, president of Uefa, Europe’s governing body.

Fifa宣佈，接替布拉特的候選人必須最遲在10月26日宣佈參選。可能的繼任者包括管理歐洲足球事務的歐足聯(Uefa)主席米歇爾渠拉蒂尼(Michel Platini)。

Fifa said the proposed reforms — which would be submitted for a decision at the February 26 congress in Zürich — included “enhanced centralised integrity checks” for executive committee members, who would also face limits on the number of terms they serve. The lack of such limits has been blamed by Fifa insiders for encouraging a culture that overlooks abuses.

Fifa表示，擬議中的改革將遞交2月26日的蘇黎世國際足聯代表大會，由其作出決議，這些改革包括對執委會成員“加強集中誠信審查”，執委會成員還將面臨任期時間限制。Fifa內部人士認爲，缺乏此類限制助長了忽視不當行爲的風氣。