Half of the 22 Fifa officials who voted to award the World Cup to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 are now under investigation¹ or suspended from football.

在投票将2018年世界杯(World Cup)主办权授予俄罗斯、将2022年世界杯主办权授予卡塔尔的22名国际足联(Fifa)官员当中，有一半正在接受调查或被暂时禁止涉及足球相关事务。

After being granted permission to publicise its formal investigations², Fifa’s ethics³ committee confirmed on Wednesday that Franz Beckenbauer, the former Germany international, and Angel Maria Villar Llona, the head of European football, have been investigated and are awaiting judgment⁴.

在获准公开其正式调查后，国际足联道德委员会周三证实，前德国国脚弗朗茨贝肯鲍尔(Franz Beckenbauer)及欧洲足联(Uefa)负责人安赫尔氠里亚比利亚尔攠纳(Angel Maria Villar Llona)已受到调查并且正在等待评判。

Both men were on Fifa’s executive committee at the time of the 2010 World Cup vote. Also on the committee, and under investigation by Fifa, are Worawi Makudi, Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolas Leoz, Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter.

在2010年世界杯投票期间，这两人都是国际足联执委会委员。同样受到国际足联调查的执委会会员还包括沃拉维氠鎚迪(Worawi Makudi)、里卡多礠谢拉(Ricardo Teixeira)、尼古拉斯莱奥斯(Nicolas Leoz)、米歇尔渠拉蒂尼(Michel Platini)及塞普布拉特(Sepp Blatter)。

The long shadow of the 2010 vote continues to hang over Fifa, which has been under pressure since US and Swiss investigators⁵ began looking into corruption⁶ in world football in 2010.

2010年那次投票产生的阴影仍笼罩在国际足联头上。自美国和瑞士调查人员开始调查2010年世界足球圈的腐败以来，国际足联始终承受着压力。

“If two other countries had emerged from the envelope, I think we would not have these problems today,” Mr Blatter told the Fifa congress in May.

贝肯鲍尔和比利亚尔案子的曝光尤为令人尴尬，因为比利亚尔接过欧洲足联的临时控制权还没有几天。他是在普拉蒂尼遭停职后接班的。

The revelation of the cases against Mr Beckenbauer and Mr Villar is particularly embarrassing. Mr Villar only recently assumed temporary control of Uefa, which runs European football, following Mr Platini’s suspension.

此外，比利亚尔在周二还被任命2018年世界杯组委会的负责人。欧洲足联拒绝就这一调查置评，但表示已注意到相关情况。

He was also put in charge of the 2018 World Cup organising committee on Tuesday. Uefa declined to comment on the investigation but said the information had been noted⁷.

贝肯鲍尔曾负责组织2006年德国世界杯。他否认了上周末的相关报道。这些报道称，一支“买选票”的行贿基金帮助德国赢得了2006年世界杯主办权。

Mr Beckenbauer, who was in charge of organising the 2006 World Cup in Germany, denied reports at the weekend of a vote-buying slush fund that helped Germany win its bid for the tournament.

他表示：“我从来没有为了拉票让德国赢得2006年世界杯主办权而向任何人提供过资金。我敢肯定，申办委员会的其余成员也都没有做过类似的事情。”