不被承認的國家 不被承認的世界盃大綱
It was a World Cup full of goals, political intrigue and pressure of an expectant home crowd. Amid equal measures of excitement and agony, penalties decided most of the second round games. In the end, an unlikely champion was crowned.
這場世界盃充滿了進球，也充滿了政治陰謀，球員們承受着家鄉球迷翹首以待的壓力。第二輪的大部分比賽都由點球決出勝負，這帶來了興奮，也帶來了同樣多的痛苦。最後，一支球隊出人意料地獲得了冠軍。
Not to be confused with the World Cup finals now underway in Brazil, this tournament took place last month in the northern Swedish city of Ostersund. As 203 national teams fought a two-and-a-half-year battle across six continents to qualify for Brazil, the Swedish tournament, called the Conifa World Cup, was played by national teams not recognized by FIFA, the sport’s governing body.
不要把它和目前正在巴西進行的世界盃決賽半決賽混爲一談。這場世界盃是上個月在瑞典北部城市厄斯特鬆德進行的。爲了獲得前往巴西參賽的資格，來自六大洲的203支國家隊進行了兩年半的爭奪；而參與瑞典“獨立足球聯盟世界盃”(Conifa World Cup)的國家隊，卻沒有得到足球運動的管理機構國際足聯(FIFA)的認可。
The participating teams represent a collection of unrecognized states, ethnic groups, islands and “frozen conflict” zones. Some want to raise awareness of their unique culture, while others hope for greater autonomy and perhaps even a nation of their own. And one of the first steps toward that, they believe, is having a national soccer 12-team tournament included Iraqi Kurdistan, a self-governing region in the north of Iraq; Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both separatist states within Georgia; and Darfur, from Sudan.
這些參賽隊伍代表了未被承認的國家、民族、島嶼和“衝突凍結”的地區。其中一些是想提升自己獨特文化的知名度，另一些則希望獲得更大的自治權，甚至自己建國。他們認爲，向着那個目標前進的第一步，就是有一支國家足球隊。12支比賽球隊中，有伊拉克北部的自治區庫爾德斯坦，格魯吉亞境內的兩個分離地區阿布哈茲和南奧塞梯，還有位於蘇丹的達爾富爾。
Membership in FIFA can be intensely political. For many teams, membership confers legitimacy and a shot at reaching the World Cup finals, a huge stage from which to wave their nation’s flag.
FIFA成員資格有時具有強烈的政治性。對於很多球隊來說，成員資格賦予了合法性，也提供了進入世界盃決賽的機會，那是一個巨大的舞臺，人們可以在那裏揮舞本國的國旗。
Palestine — recognized as a “nonmember observer state” by the United Nations and a member of FIFA since 1998 — now has a national stadium near Ramallah and has attempted to qualify for four World Cup finals. Other teams, like Kosovo, have been unable to join European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, because of political lobbying from Serbia. When Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the Iberian Peninsula claimed by Spain, tried to join FIFA, Spain threatened to pull all of its teams — including the powerhouses of Barcelona and Real Madrid — from the European Champions League and international football. Despite the political pressure, Gibraltar became a member of UEFA in 2013 and hopes to join FIFA st all of the teams in Sweden have little chance of political recognition, and little chance of joining FIFA or any of its six confederations. The Conifa World Cup is the best opportunity for some of them to play international football.
巴勒斯坦被聯合國承認爲“非會員觀察員國”，1998成爲FIFA成員。該國目前在拉姆安拉附近建有一座國家體育館，而且已經四次嘗試入圍世界盃決賽圈。另一些球隊一直無法加入歐洲的足球管理機構歐洲足聯(UEFA)，比如科索沃就是因爲塞爾維亞的政治遊說而未能加入UEFA。直布羅陀是英國在伊比利亞半島的海外領土，西班牙一直聲稱對其擁有主權。當直布羅陀試圖加入FIFA時，西班牙威脅從歐冠聯賽和國際比賽中撤回所有西班牙球隊，包括巴塞羅那和皇家馬德里這樣的強隊。儘管遭遇了政治壓力，直布羅陀2013年仍然成爲了UEFA成員，並希望接下來加入FIFA。在瑞典比賽的球隊中，幾乎每一支球隊獲得政治認可的機會都很渺茫，也沒什麼可能加入FIFA或六個下屬聯盟中任何一個。獨立足球聯盟世界盃是它們中某些球隊參加國際比賽的最大機會。
Darfur, playing its first games on a grass field, lost its debut match 20-0, and its second 19-0. In the quarterfinals Abkhazia met South Ossetia in the Georgian frozen conflict zone derby (South Ossetia won on penalties). But it was the county of Nice, from the South of France, and Ellan Vannin, the national team of the Isle of Man, a self-governing British crown dependency, that met in the final.
首次在草地上比賽的達爾富爾隊首場以0比20戰敗，又以0比19輸掉了第二場。在四分之一決賽中，阿布哈茲遭遇了南奧塞梯，上演了格魯吉亞衝突凍結地區的德比戰（南奧塞梯在點球大戰中取勝）。但進入最後決賽的是法國南部的尼斯鎮，和自治的英國皇家屬地馬恩島的球隊。
The match finished 0-0 and, like the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy, was decided by a penalty shootout. Nice prevailed, but for the players the tournament meant more than merely winning.“This has been about culture and friendship,” Conor Doyle of Ellan Vannin told Isle of Man News. “We showed our culture to the rest of the world. We’ve done our island proud.”
比賽結束時的比分爲0比0，就像1994年世界盃巴西和意大利的決戰一樣，靠點球決出了勝負。尼斯贏了，但是對於運動員來說，這次比賽的意義不止於此。“它還與文化和友誼有關，”隊長康納·多伊爾(Conor Doyle)告訴馬恩島新聞(Isle of Man News)。“我們向世界展示了我們的文化，給我們的島嶼增了光。”
