體壇風暴 誰將是布拉特的繼任者

On Friday, the mood was one of celebration. Giddy at his victory in Fifa’s presidential election, Sepp Blatter stood while dozens of his jubilant supporters hugged, kissed and even lifted him off his feet.

上週五充滿了慶祝的氛圍。塞普•布拉特(Sepp Blatter)連任國際足聯主席，他站在那裏，數十名喜氣洋洋的支持者擁抱他、親吻他，甚至把他從地面上舉起來。

But the signs of his demise were there to be seen. After 17 years under his control, Fifa was threatening to split at the seams.

不過也能看得出他會辭職的痕跡。在他執掌國際足聯（Fifa）17年，國際足聯已經走向分崩離析。

Michel Platini, the former French footballer who led the charge against Mr Blatter, darted for the exit, as did many other heavyweights of world football.

原法國球員米歇爾•普拉蒂尼(Michel Platini)暗示將退出國際足聯執委會，其他國際足球界的大佬們也有此意。

Those who stayed to celebrate with Mr Blatter were the representatives of small countries, those who had benefited most from his largesse and who had pulled him through Fifa’s darker hours in return. “We are so happy!” cried a group of African delegates, anticipating four more years of the high life.

但對布拉特當選的慶祝是短暫的。4天之後，布拉特便辭去了國際足聯(Fifa)主席職位。布拉特起碼還有4個月要呆在國際足聯總部。他表示，他將用這段時間進行“深刻的改革”。

Their celebrations were shortlived. Only four days later, Mr Blatter announced his resignation as allegations of corruption among senior Fifa executives refused to die away, leaving the organisation in crisis and the future of its world cup competitions in doubt. Mr Blatter’s skill in playing to smaller countries and seeing off Europe and the US had exposed the faultlines in football and have left Fifa’s credibility in shreds.

足球界內部能接替這位瑞士人的人並不多。曾被布拉特視爲可能接替者的傑弗裏•韋伯(Jeffrey Webb)，如今已在瑞士被捕。米歇爾•普拉蒂尼長期以來一直是熱門人選，但歐足聯(Uefa)表示，普拉蒂尼現在需要反思一段時間，然後再考慮參選的事。約旦王子阿里•本•阿爾-賽因(Ali bin Al-Hussein)已表示，他將參加競選。