国际足联主席布拉特称腐败丑闻令足球运动蒙羞
时间：2018-12-16 作者：英语课 分类：2015年VOA慢速英语(六)月
FIFA Re-Elect Blatter Despite Corruption 1 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 bin 2 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 accusations 3 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 unity 4 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 investigations 6 on FIFA ahead
The U.S. Justice Department charged 14 people with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering 7, among other offenses 8. All of these crimes, officials say go back to 1991. The defendants 9 are alleged 10 to have paid well over $150 million in bribes 12 and kickbacks 13. They made those payments so they could get media and marketing 14 rights to international soccer tournaments.
In addition to the U.S. case, Swiss authorities are conducting a separate investigation 5. 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 spoke 15 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 partnerships 16 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 thoroughly 17 examine the issues. Adidas called on the soccer organization to “follow transparent 18 compliance 19 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
bribe 11 – n. something valuable, like money, given to get someone to do something
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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》
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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。
- 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
- 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
- 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。
- 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。
- 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
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。