If you haven’t seen Sergio Aguero’s 94th-minute league-winning(联赛夺冠的) goal for Manchester City in 2012, Google it. It is among the greatest moments in football history. This week it became infamous(臭名昭著的).
如果你还没看过2012年塞尔吉奥·阿圭罗在补时第94分钟为曼城打进的联赛夺冠进球，去谷歌搜一下。那是足球史上最伟大的时刻之一。而本周，它变得臭名昭著。
An independent commission has found City, the most successful English team of the past 15 years, guilty of over 100 breaches of the Premier League’s rules between 2009 and 2018.(一个独立调查委员会裁定，过去15年英格兰最成功的球队曼城，在2009至2018年间违反英超规则逾100次。) It is by far(迄今为止、远远) the most complicated legal case in the history of English football—and the most consequential(影响重大的).
一个独立调查委员会裁定，曼城——过去15年英格兰最成功的球队——在2009至2018年间违反英超规则逾100次。这是英格兰足球史上迄今为止最复杂的法律案件，也是影响最深远的案件。
In football, the relationship between money and success is fairly linear(线性的、成正比的). Most of the charges against City relate to attempts to circumvent rules which prevent owners from pumping vast sums into their clubs, by limiting what teams can spend relative to their revenue.(对曼城的大部分指控，都与其试图规避规则有关——这些规则通过限制球队相对收入的支出额度，来阻止老板向俱乐部注入巨额资金。) According to the verdict published on September 29th, City’s Emirati owners evaded those rules with “sham” sponsorship contracts that helped the club overstate its income by more than £830m ($1.2bn), money that enabled it to buy players, like Mr Aguero, who made a mediocre outfit record-breaking.(根据9月29日公布的裁决，曼城的阿联酋老板用“虚假”赞助合同规避了这些规则，帮助俱乐部虚增收入逾8.3亿英镑（12亿美元），这笔钱让俱乐部得以买下像阿圭罗这样的球员，把一支平庸之师打造成破纪录的球队。) In the decade to 2020 the club recorded £600m more in commercial income than the average of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
在足球界，金钱与成功之间的关系基本是线性的。对曼城的大部分指控，都与其试图规避规则有关——这些规则通过限制球队相对收入的支出额度，来阻止老板向俱乐部注入巨额资金。根据9月29日公布的裁决，曼城的阿联酋老板用“虚假”赞助合同规避了这些规则，帮助俱乐部虚增收入逾8.3亿英镑（12亿美元），这笔钱让俱乐部得以买下像阿圭罗这样的球员，把一支平庸之师打造成破纪录的球队。截至2020年的十年间，该俱乐部的商业收入比阿森纳、切尔西和利物浦的平均值高出6亿英镑。