随着世界杯正在进行，为什么地缘政治的批评声却安静了？
With the World Cup in full swing, why have the geopolit…
It is a difficult juggling act to be both a soccer fan and social critic. After tournaments start, it becomes even harder.
既是足球迷又是社会评论家，本身就是一项艰难的平衡。比赛开始后，难度更大了。
We are well into this largest and longest FIFA men’s World Cup. Before it kicked off in Mexico City on June 11, there was intense media and public discussion of its geopolitics.
我们已经深入这场最大、最长的国际足联男子世界杯。在它于6月11日在墨西哥城开幕之前，关于其地缘政治的媒体和公众讨论非常激烈。
After all, it is the first to have a co-host (the United States) engaged in open military combat with one of the participating FIFA members (Iran) . This tension is accompanied by several others, not least between the US and the other hosts, Mexico and Canada.
毕竟，这是第一个让联合主办方（美国）与一个参与的国际足联成员国（伊朗）卷入公开军事冲突的赛事。这种紧张局势还伴随着其他几组矛盾，尤其是在美国与其他东道国——墨西哥和加拿大之间。
The second Trump administration has also picked a series of fights with many of the world’s nations.
特朗普的第二个政府也与许多世界各国引发了一系列冲突。
Critical commentary about the prospects of a conflict-ridden World Cup was, for these reasons, widely spread across the world’s media after Trump returned to power in 2025.
出于这些原因，关于世界杯可能充满冲突的前景的批判性评论，在特朗普于2025年重掌权力后，在全球媒体上广泛传播。
Let the games begin
让我们开始比赛吧
As the games have got going, though, the tide of World Cup political commentary has notably receded. The absence of any major incidents involving visiting teams and fans at the time of writing has directed most eyes towards the on-field games and off-field fun.
然而，随着比赛的进行，世界杯政治评论的风潮明显退却。撰写本文时，由于没有涉及客队和球迷的大规模事件，大多数人的目光都集中在了赛场上的比赛和场外的乐趣上。
What does this unfolding story tell us about the rhythms of media and public attention at a global extravaganza like the World Cup?
这一发展的故事告诉我们什么关于像世界杯这样全球盛事媒体和公众注意力的节奏？
The downplaying of politics is, in fact, no big surprise. The various stages of a mega sport event present variable opportunities to focus on sporting, social, political, cultural and environmental issues. They unfold as the four-part sequence of: host bid, event lead-up, sporting action and legacy.
事实上，淡化政治并非什么大不了的意外。大型体育赛事的各个阶段提供了关注体育、社会、政治、文化和环境问题的不同机会。它们以四个部分的序列展开：主办国竞选、赛事前期准备、体育竞技以及遗产建设。
These rhythms of concentrated attention are well understood by the various parties involved in trying to set the public agenda of a gigantic sporting carnival.
这些集中的关注节奏，被参与设定巨大体育嘉年华公众议程的各方所了解。
World governing bodies like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) , and the hosts, are most vulnerable to moral and ethical criticism before sporting competition commences. At that point, the most compelling subjects – athletes’ performances, exciting contests and the responses to them – are yet to be formed as compelling narratives.
在体育竞赛开始之前，国际足联（FIFA）和国际奥委会（IOC）等世界管理机构以及主办方最容易受到道德和伦理批评。在这一点上，最具吸引力的主题——运动员的表现、激动人心的比赛及其反应——尚未形成引人入胜的叙事。
By contrast, before the teams take the field, historical and contemporary issues can dominate the frame. These include:
相比之下，在队伍登上赛场之前，历史和当代问题可能会占据主导地位。这些包括：
expenditure of scarce public funds
稀缺公共资金的支出
player and fan exploitation
球员和球迷的剥削
political oppression
政治压迫
human rights
人权
institutional inequalities
制度不平等
“sportswashing”
“体育洗白”
and environmental consequences.
以及环境后果。
The journalists who cover the tournament, especially those travelling to the venues, usually have some time to file so-called “colour stories” before sport takes centre stage. Primed by preceding political debates, they are able to explore these broader matters with the authority of “on the spot” reportage.
报道该赛事的记者，尤其是前往场馆的记者，通常在体育成为焦点之前有时间撰写所谓的“深度故事”。由于此前政治辩论的影响，他们能够以“现场报道”的权威性来探讨这些更广泛的问题。
But there is no escaping the reality that World Cups and Olympics are global cultural events for sporting rather than political reasons. If sport lacked a deep appeal to those who practise and watch it, there could be no grand spectacle in the first place.
但无法逃避一个现实，即世界杯和奥运会是出于体育而非政治原因的全球文化盛事。如果运动缺乏对实践者和观看者的深层吸引力，那么一开始就不可能有如此宏大的盛景。
Ethics and fandom
体育与粉丝文化
Critical social science and humanities researchers have historically challenged the comforting myth that sport is an apolitical escape from everyday social struggles. But it is a difficult task to recognise the legitimate pleasures of soccer and other sports while simultaneously highlighting their negative consequences.
批判性的社会科学和人文研究人员历史上一直挑战着一个令人心安的迷思，即体育运动是脱离日常社会斗争的非政治性逃避。但要在强调其负面后果的同时，认识到足球和其他运动的合法乐趣，是一项艰巨的任务。
It may be unwelcome to point out to fans the stadium they are occupying or watching on screen was built at the cost of many migrant worker lives – as was the case of the 2022 Qatar men’s World Cup. Or that, at Qatar and the 2018 Russia men’s World Cup, LGBTQIA+ players, officials and fans who travelled to those countries were justifiably nervous about their safety.
指出球迷所占据或在屏幕上观看的体育场是在许多移民工人生命代价下建造的——就像2022年卡塔尔男足世界杯的情况一样——这可能是不受欢迎的。或者指出，在卡塔尔和2018年俄罗斯男足世界杯期间，前往这些国家的LGBTQIA+球员、官员和球迷对自身安全感到合理的担忧。
In the 2026 edition, fans may not be too receptive to suggestions they bought FIFA-inflated tickets at the expense of the less affluent. Or occupied some of the seats of fans from the many countries with denied or restricted entry to the US.
在2026年的赛事中，球迷对于“以牺牲经济条件较差人群为代价购买了充气价格的国际足联门票”这样的建议可能不会太接受。或者指责他们占据了许多被美国拒绝或限制入境国家球迷的座位。
Or that international visitors got tickets because many US-based fans of colour feared attending a “home” World Cup. Detention and deportation after running a gauntlet of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents loomed large as a threat, particularly for Hispanic people.
又或者指出，国际游客之所以能拿到票，是因为许多在美国本土的有色人种球迷担心参加一场“主场”世界杯。在经历了一系列移民和海关执法局（ICE）人员盘查后，拘留和驱逐的威胁悬而未决，尤其是对西班牙裔人群而言。
Intensifying such anxieties, even Africa’s best referee, the Somalian Omar Artan, was refused entry to the US on the eve of the World Cup.
加剧这种焦虑的是，甚至非洲最好的裁判——索马里人奥马尔·阿尔坦，在世界杯前夕被拒绝进入美国。
Many fans are also unimpressed by the unedifying spectacle of FIFA President Gianni Infantino constantly flattering US President Donald Trump, apparently tarnishing rather than burnishing the tournament’s image.
许多球迷对于国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺不断奉承美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的、令人不悦的场面也感到不满，这似乎是在损害而非提升赛事的形象。
But such reservations are generally set aside in making World Cup travel plans.
但在制定世界杯旅行计划时，这些顾虑通常会被搁置。
When political protests occurred before Mexico’s first home game to take advantage of World Cup-stimulated global profile, most media coverage was cursory at best. With 104 scheduled matches, it would take something genuinely dramatic – or tragic – to wrest the spotlight from the on-field action.
当政治抗议发生在墨西哥举办的首场主场比赛之前，目的是利用世界杯带来的全球关注度时，大多数媒体报道充其量只是草草带过。考虑到有104场预定的比赛，想要从球场上的行动中夺走聚光灯，需要一些真正戏剧性——或悲剧性的事件。
A juggling act for critical fans
批判性粉丝的平衡术
It is a difficult juggling act to be both soccer fan and social critic. After tournaments start, it becomes even harder.
既是足球迷又是社会评论家，本身就是一项艰难的平衡术。一旦赛事开始，难度更甚。
For critical fans the optimal time for geopolitical commentary is before the first goal is scored and after the post-tournament hangover takes hold.
对于批判性粉丝而言，进行地缘政治评论的最佳时机是在第一个进球出现之前，以及在赛事结束后“宿醉”状态袭来之后。
David Rowe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
David Rowe 不受任何从本文中受益的公司或组织雇佣、咨询、持有股份或接受其资助，并且除了其学术职位外，未披露任何相关的关联。
