爲什麼FIBA與FIFA僅一字之差 影響力卻大相庭徑?

FIBA, basketball's international organizing body, is making an ambitious move that has been nearly a decade in the making as it aims for its signature event to one day rival soccer's biggest prize.

國際籃聯正在進行一項雄心勃勃的舉措，這項舉措已經醞釀了將近十年的時間。那就是希望自己的標誌性賽事有朝一日能與足球的最高獎項相媲美。

It starts with the name. What was known for decades as the FIBA World Championships is now known as the FIBA World Cup. To kick it off, the first basketball World Cup is being held this August and September in China, which boasts the most basketball fans on the planet.

這項舉措從改變賽事名稱入手。數十年來，這項賽事都被叫作國際籃聯世界錦標賽，如今更名爲國際籃聯世界盃。第一屆籃球世界盃將於今年的8月和9月在中國舉辦，這是一片擁有世界上最多籃球球迷的熱土。

Last Saturday morning FIBA held the draw for the tournament at a splashy ceremony in Shenzhen, which featured the two most popular figures among Chinese fans: Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming.

上週六上午，國際籃聯在深圳舉辦了盛大的賽事抽籤儀式。最受中國球迷歡迎的兩位人物，科比·布萊恩特和姚明，也參加了抽籤儀式。

If you'd forgotten about the existence of World Championships/World Cup, it might be because it hasn't taken place in five years. It was pushed back from its normal rotation in 2018 to this summer. This was primarily so it wouldn't be conducted in the same year as the FIFA World Cup, which it trailed every four summers dating to the 1960s.

如果你忘記了世錦賽/世界盃的存在，或許是因爲它已經有5年沒有舉辦了。按照正常的輪迴，這項賽事本該在2018年就舉辦，但是被推遲至這個夏天，主要是爲了避免FIBA世界盃和FIFA世界盃在同一年舉辦。從上世紀60年代以來，FIFA世界盃每隔四個夏天舉辦一次。

In all honesty, FIBA has a long way to go here in trying to square this event with soccer's festival every four years. Now FIBA has a new laborious and even mildly controversial qualification system that, like it's bigger soccer brother, takes place throughout the calendar over the course of two years. To be more like the soccer event, it has expanded size of its field to create a larger and more diverse group of competitors, going from 24 countries to 32.

說實話，國際籃聯要做到把這項賽事同每四年舉辦一次的足球世界盃相一致，可謂任重而道遠。就像足球世界盃一樣，現在的國際籃聯有着一個耗時費力，甚至帶有略微爭議的全新資格體系，這個資格體系貫穿着兩年的賽程。爲了更加接近足球賽事，國際籃聯還擴大了賽事規模，將參與賽事的國家從24個擴充至32個。

Over an 18-month span, 80 countries played 12 games in their regions to qualify. This was a change from the previous system where teams played in continental tournaments over the summer and top finishers advanced. Most of these qualifying games were played during the winter months and traditional basketball season, which often meant countries' best players couldn't participate. Certainly no NBA players did.

在18個月的時間裏，80個國家在各自的地區打12場比賽以獲取參賽資格。這是一個轉變，若按照先前的系統，球隊得在夏天參與大陸錦標賽，最終的勝出者才能獲取參賽資格。這些資格賽大多在冬季或傳統的籃球賽季期間進行，這就意味着許多國家最好的球員無法參賽，更別說NBA球員了！

This happens in soccer, the World Cup qualifiers take place during the league seasons over the course of two years. But the FIFA World Cup is so important and so traditional, that leagues around the world pause their schedules to allow the best players to return to play for their home countries.

這也同樣發生在足球上，世界盃預選賽在聯賽賽季期間舉辦，耗時長達兩年。但是，FIFA世界盃是一項傳統的重要賽事，因此世界各地的聯賽會暫停賽程，讓最好的球員們能夠回去爲國征戰。

That didn't happen in the NBA or any of the top European leagues. USA Basketball had to scramble to field quality teams made up of G League players and free agents. Coach Jeff Van Gundy led the U.S. team to qualification with a 10-2 record playing all over North and South America and used 54 different players in the 12 games.

但在NBA和任何歐洲頂級聯賽中，情況並非如此。因此，美國國家籃球隊不得不招攬發展聯盟球員和自由球員，以組建高質量的球隊。傑夫·范甘迪主教練帶領美國隊在北美洲和南美洲征戰，以10勝2負的戰績斬獲了世界盃參賽資格。在這期間的12場比賽中，他一共使用了54名不同的球員。

The World Cup will be so highly thought of that the NBA will halt its schedule and the great American players of the day will fly off to Uruguay or Brazil for intense midseason qualification games. The same thing, in grand theory, would happen across Europe, Asia and Australia.

世界盃如此備受矚目，以至於NBA暫停其賽程，讓傑出的美國球員們飛往烏拉圭或巴西參與激烈的賽季中期資格賽。從大體上講，同樣的事情也會發生歐洲、亞洲和澳洲的聯賽。

This is a regular occurrence in soccer, where Lionel Messi would make a game-winner for FC Barcelona one week and the next week score for Argentina to get it into the World Cup.

這在足球界可是司空見慣的事。或許里奧·梅西在本週剛爲巴塞羅那打入一記制勝球，在下週就爲阿根廷打入一粒進球，幫助球隊挺進世界盃。

Right now, that image in the world basketball is just a dream. But FIBA is doing the dreaming and putting the mechanics in place to make it possible one day.

現在，這對於世界籃球來說還只是一個願景。但是，國際籃聯正一邊規劃願景，一邊打造切實可行的機制，使之有朝一日成爲可能。

For Americans,with a new coach in Gregg Popovich, the closeness to the Tokyo Olympics next summer and so many of the top stars dedicated to growing their personal fanbases in China, the expectation is a full slate of top American players will take part this summer in China.

對於美國人來說，隨着格雷格·波波維奇成爲美國隊的新主教練，明年夏天東京奧運會的臨近，以及多位頂級球星致力於擴大他們在中國的粉絲基礎，因此，他們的期望是，今年夏天派衆多美國頂級球星來中國參賽。

It has been five years since this event has been staged and more international talent has proven itself at the highest levels, which shows up across the NBA. China, after going 0-5 in the Rio Olympics in 2016 and then failing to medal in the FIBA Asian Cup in 2017, is under heavy pressure to deliver an improved performance on home soil and will have massive fan support.

這項賽事已經有五年沒有舉辦了。越來越多的國際球員已經在高水平的競賽中證明了自己，這在NBA中顯而易見。中國在2016年的里約奧運會取得0勝5負的慘淡戰績，隨後又在2017年的亞洲盃錯失金牌，在這一系列失利之後，中國男籃肩負着巨大的壓力，力爭在本土取得佳績，並將獲得廣大球迷的支持。

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