Video review will make the World Cup better, but not quieter
视频复查会让世界杯更透明，但不会让它更安静
If soccer officials thought that introducing the use of video to help referees in this World Cup would stop the disputes, they were mistaken. Clearly, even after the small fortune invested in technology and training, the video-assistant-referee system, known as VAR, is no panacea.
如果足球协会的官员认为，在这届世界杯赛场上引进视频来帮助裁判，关于球赛的争议就会消失的话，这些官员可就错了。很显然，就算在技术层面和训练上投了一大笔钱，这种人称 VAR 的视频助理裁判系统，也称不上万全之策。
On the club level, the Premier League, the world’s most prestigious domestic soccer competition, and UEFA, which runs the Champions League, the most prestigious international club competition, are still not ready to commit to VAR.
从俱乐部的层面看，世界顶尖的国内足球赛——英超联赛，以及经营着欧冠这样国际顶尖俱乐部赛事的欧洲足球协会联盟，都没有开始使用 VAR。
But that does not mean FIFA, the sport’s often untrustworthy governing body, is on the wrong path. There will be bumps, maybe even an occasional accident, but the use of replay in critical situations, which is what VAR is to be limited to, is still the best chance to make the World Cup and the sport a fairer proposition.
但这不意味着国际足联走错了道，尽管它在业内往往是不值得被信任的管理机构。虽然会遇到阻力，甚至偶尔出现事故，但在关键情况下使用回放功能——这也是能使用 VAR 的唯一场合，仍然是让世界杯和足球运动变得更加公平的最佳机会。
There have been too many blunders, too much lost trust, through the decades to think otherwise. Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup might have quite a ring to it, but it was also a travesty and a blown call.
过去几十年来，人们出现了太多的失误，失去了太多的信任，使用 VAR 似乎势在必行。迭戈·马拉多纳在 1986 年世界杯上对阵英格兰的“上帝之手”进球可能名字很动听，但这也是一种歪曲，一次误判。
Even Maradona now agrees that trying to avoid a repeat is the right move, and it is all the more necessary in a media landscape where every fan with access to a screen is able to watch replay after replay of pivotal moments and decisions. The referees, until now, have been stuck with real time and the blur of the moment and having to judge the actions of players who have been training their whole lives, in some cases, to be world-class thespians.
连马拉多纳现在也同意，试图避免这种错误重演是正确的举措。在当今的媒体环境下，每个球迷只要有个屏幕在跟前，就能反反复复观看那些关键的球赛瞬间或是裁判决议，因此引入 VAR 更显得必要。而目前为止，实况的球赛和临场的含混模糊都令裁判员们掣肘，他们还不得不去评判球员在球场上的一举一动，而这些毕生都在训练的球员，有一些是为了成为世界级的“演员”。
“We’re just starting out, but we are convinced that eventually video will be beneficial to soccer because behavior will change,” Pascal Garibian, France’s national technical director for referees, said in an interview this month with France Football.
“这才刚刚开始，但我们相信，视频最终将对足球有利，因为行为是会改变的，”在接受《法国足球》杂志的采访时，法国裁判技术总监帕斯卡尔加里比安如是说。
————— 文章来源 / 纽约时报
重点词汇
referee/ˌrefəˈriː/
n. （比赛的）裁判员
e.g.
We only lost the game because the referee was biased.
panacea/ˌpænəˈsiːə/
n. 万灵药；万能之计
e.g.
Technology is not a panacea for all our problems.
untrustworthy/ʌnˈtrʌstwɜːrði/
adj. 不可靠的；不能信赖（或信任）的
bump/bʌmp/
n. 碰撞；撞击
proposition/ˌprɑːpəˈzɪʃn/
n. 任务；待处理的事
blunder/ˈblʌndər/
n. 愚蠢（或粗心）的错误
e.g.
a major political blunder
I made a blunder by getting his name wrong.
travesty/ˈtrævəsti/
n. 嘲弄；歪曲；拙劣模仿
e.g.
a travesty of justice
blur/blɜːr/
n. 模糊
thespian/ˈθespiən/
n. 演员
UEFA
(= Union of European Football Associations)
欧洲足球协会联盟
FIFA
(= Federation Internationale de Football Association）
国际足联
