2022年11月04日 VOA慢速英語：FIFA：“最重要的項目”不是世界杯

 

This year's soccer World Cup in Qatar begins on November 20. But the international tournament is not FIFA's "most important project."
今年的卡塔爾足球世界杯將于11月20日開幕。但國際賽事并不是國際足聯“最重要的項目”。
 
The world soccer organization says its top project is called Football for Schools.
世界足球組織稱其頂級項目名為“校園足球”。
 
The plan is to provide soccer balls to schools around the world so 700 million children can learn about the game. The organization wants to give away 11 million balls and provide a mobile phone program, or app, so adults can teach children how to play.
該計劃是向世界各地的學校提供??足球，讓 7 億兒童能夠了解這項運動。該組織希望贈送 1100 萬個球并提供一個手機程序或應用程序，以便成年人可以教孩子們如何玩。
 
Fatimata Sow Sidibe heads the project for FIFA. The goal is to reach half the children in the world aged four to 14.
Fatimata Sow Sidibe 負責國際足聯的項目。目標是覆蓋全世界一半的 4 至 14 歲兒童。
 
The program started in 2019 but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It started again this year with a budget of $100 million.
該計劃于 2019 年開始，但由于 COVID-19 大流行而被推遲。今年再次啟動，預算為 1 億美元。
 
That amount is about one percent of what Qatar spent building stadiums.
這一數額大約是卡塔爾建造體育場所花費的百分之一。
 
Steve Pila is running the project in South Africa. He called it "the most important project in the world of football." Football is another word for soccer.
史蒂夫·皮拉 (Steve Pila) 正在南非運行該項目。他稱其為“足球界最重要的項目”。足球是足球的另一種說法。
 
Pila said the other part of the project – the coaching app for smart phones – is important. Many schools do not have a person trained in coaching soccer.
皮拉說，該項目的另一部分——智能手機教練應用程序——很重要。許多學校沒有受過足球教練培訓的人員。
 
"Even a teacher in the most rural area is able to take young boys and girls together, and at the palm of your hand, you have something to do with them," he said.
“即使是最偏遠地區(qū)的老師也能把年輕的男孩和女孩帶到一起，而且在你的手掌中，你與他們有關系，”他說。
 
Pila said the largest problem for soccer in South Africa is that there are not enough good coaches. The app "fills the gap just a little."
皮拉說，南非足球最大的問題是沒有足夠的優(yōu)秀教練。該應用程序“填補了一些空白。”
 
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico and it is unlikely that the Football for Schools program will find the next big world star by then. Player development, especially among such young children, takes time.
2026 年世界杯將由美國、加拿大和墨西哥共同主辦，屆時“校園足球”項目不太可能找到下一個世界巨星。球員的發(fā)展，尤其是在這些年幼的孩子中，需要時間。
 
Sow Sidibe said it is hard to find investors in a project like this because it takes too long to see results.
Sow Sidibe 表示，在這樣的項目中很難找到投資者，因為需要很長時間才能看到結果。
 
However, research shows that the best players in the world all had regular experience playing soccer before they turned 10. Lionel Messi played for a team in Argentina starting at the age of four. Cristiano Ronaldo played regularly by the time he was seven.
然而，研究表明，世界上最好的球員在 10 歲之前都有過踢足球的常規(guī)經驗。萊昂內爾·梅西從 4 歲開始就在阿根廷的一支球隊效力。克里斯蒂亞諾·羅納爾多七歲時就經常上場。
 
FIFA said there are more than 500 million children in the world who do not play soccer very often.
國際足聯表示，世界上有超過 5 億兒童不經常踢足球。
 
Mzimkhulu Fina is with the South African Football Association. He said: "We are spreading the net now."
Mzimkhulu Fina 效力于南非足協。他說：“我們現在正在撒網。”
 
Football for Schools is centering its work on children in poor countries. It is already working in 18 countries and plans to start on the Caribbean Sea area next. In 2023 it will move to India where it hopes to reach 1.8 million children. Soccer officials want the program to move into all 211 countries that are members of FIFA.
Football for Schools 的工作重點是貧困國家的兒童。它已經在 18 個國家開展工作，并計劃下一步在加勒比海地區(qū)開展工作。2023 年，它將搬到印度，希望能惠及 180 萬兒童。足球官員希望該計劃進入所有 211 個國際足聯成員國。
 
Africa faces many difficulties. But 400 million children under the age of 10 live there and soccer is the top sport.
非洲面臨許多困難。但那里有 4 億 10 歲以下的兒童，而足球是最熱門的運動。
 
Pila said many children who are interested in a soccer career must leave their homes. He gave an example of Sadio Mane of Senegal who plays for Bayern Munich in Germany. He is one of the world's best players, but he grew up in Bambali in southern Senegal. He had to leave for Dakar when he was a teenager so he could be discovered.
皮拉說，許多對足球事業(yè)感興趣的孩子必須離開家。他舉了一個塞內加爾的薩迪奧·馬內（Sadio Mane）的例子，他在德國效力于拜仁慕尼黑。他是世界上最好的球員之一，但他在塞內加爾南部的班巴里長大。他十幾歲的時候不得不去達喀爾，這樣他才能被發(fā)現。
 
Pila said many other young people do this, but unlike Mane, "so many are missed."
皮拉說，許多其他年輕人都這樣做，但與馬內不同的是，“很多人都被錯過了。”
 
Yaya Toure of Ivory Coast went on to play for Barcelona in Spain and Manchester City in Britain. He said there are good players in Africa, "but if they are not surrounded by all they need to be among the top … it's going to be difficult."
科特迪瓦的亞亞圖雷繼續(xù)為西班牙的巴塞羅那和英國的曼城效力。他說非洲有很多優(yōu)秀的球員，“但如果他們沒有被所有他們包圍，他們需要成為頂級球員......這將是困難的。”
 
Pila said there is one more part of the Football for Schools program. Inside the app is a part about life skills. It tells young players that they will need more than their soccer skills to have a good life. The program is designed by UNESCO, the United Nations' education agency. UNESCO believes putting more soccer programs in schools will keep young students interested in attending class longer.
皮拉說，“學校足球”計劃還有另一部分。應用程序內部是關于生活技能的部分。它告訴年輕球員，要過上美好的生活，他們需要的不僅僅是足球技能。該計劃由聯合國教育機構教科文組織設計。聯合國教科文組織認為，在學校開設更多足球項目將使年輕學生對上課時間更感興趣。
 
"You know football is not long-lived," Pila said. "You play it as long as you are under 35. Unless you are Cristiano Ronaldo."
“你知道足球不會長壽，”皮拉說。“只要你未滿 35 歲，你就可以玩它。除非你是克里斯蒂亞諾·羅納爾多。”