-- even though he plays on a team in Germany

-- 即使他在德國的球隊裡打球

and they play for a team in Russia.

而他們在俄羅斯的一支球隊效力。

It's also on this team in Serbia, at games in England, and on sidelines in Italy.

在塞爾維亞的這支球隊裡，在英格蘭的比賽中，在意大利的場邊，也是如此。

The logo belongs to Gazprom, a Russian natural gas company.

該標誌屬於俄羅斯天然氣公司Gazprom。

Logo sponsorships are normal in soccer:

標誌贊助在足球界很正常。

Teams make money offering jersey space to sponsors selling things like credit cards,

球隊向贊助商提供球衣空間，出售信用卡等東西，就能賺錢。

cars and cell phones.

汽車和手機。

But Gazprom isn't like most sponsors: private companies with products soccer fans can buy.

但俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司和大多數贊助商不一樣：私人公司的產品足球迷可以買到。

Instead, it's a company owned by the Russian government that makes money selling natural

而是俄羅斯政府旗下的一家公司，靠賣天然植物賺錢。

gas to foreign countries.

向外國輸送天然氣。

Yet, it's everywhere in European soccer.

然而，在歐洲足壇卻隨處可見。

So, if soccer fans can't buy what they're selling,

所以，如果足球迷買不到他們賣的東西。

why is Gazprom spending millions to sponsor soccer games?

為什麼俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司要花幾百萬贊助足球比賽？

The answer is part of a larger story that's changing the sport of soccer.

答案是改變足球運動的更大故事的一部分。

Foreign countries using companies they own to burnish their reputations abroad,

外國利用自己的公司在國外燒燬自己的名譽。

and to understand why Russia is involved, you need to look at a map.

而要了解俄羅斯為何參與其中，你需要看一張地圖。

Russia has the world's largest natural gas reserves and most of them

俄羅斯擁有世界上最大的天然氣儲量，而且其中大部分是

are located in Arctic gas fields controlled by Gazprom.

位於俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司控制的北極氣田。

The company is led by Alexey Miller, a close ally of Vladimir Putin.

該公司由弗拉基米爾-普京的親密盟友阿列克謝-米勒上司。

Since 2005, the Russian government has owned a majority stake in Gazprom.

自2005年以來，俄羅斯政府擁有俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的多數股份。

Meaning company profits are under Putin's control and gas sales, along with oil,

意味著公司利潤在普京的控制下，天然氣的銷售，以及石油。

account for around 40% of Russia's annual budget.

佔俄羅斯年度預算的40%左右。

This map shows how dependent various European countries are on Russian gas and you can see

這張圖顯示了歐洲各國對俄羅斯天然氣的依賴程度，你可以看到

that Eastern European countries are more dependent than countries further west.

東歐國家比更西邊的國家依賴性更強；

At the end of the 20th century, Germany represented the biggest opportunity for Gazprom.

20世紀末，德國是俄羅斯天然氣公司最大的機會。

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had announced plans to phase out coal and nuclear power,

德國總理格哈德-施羅德曾宣佈計劃逐步淘汰煤電和核電。

which meant Germany would need more natural gas to maintain their energy supply.

這意味著德國將需要更多的天然氣來維持其能源供應。

Gazprom wanted to get it to them, but there was a problem.

俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司想把它交給他們，但有個問題。

To get to Germany, Russia's gas needed pass to through pipelines

俄羅斯的天然氣要運到德國，需要通過管道。

crossing countries charging Gazprom transport fees.

過境國家收取Gazprom運輸費。

And most of them went through Ukraine

他們中的大多數人都經過烏克蘭

a country that has a complicated relationship with Russia.

一個與俄羅斯關係複雜的國家。

Today, Ukraine still charges Russia $2-3 billion dollars every year to pump gas through to Europe.

如今，烏克蘭每年仍向俄羅斯收取20-30億美元的費用，向歐洲輸送天然氣。

So, starting back in 2005, Russia began working on a strategy to bypass Ukraine

所以，早在2005年開始，俄羅斯就開始研究繞過烏克蘭的戰略了。

and ship their gas directly to Western Europe.

並將其天然氣直接運往西歐。

This is the Nord Stream pipeline

這就是北溪管道

a route through The Baltic Sea straight to Northern Germany.

通過波羅的海直達德國北部的路線。

In late 2005, Gazprom was in the final stages of financing the project

2005年底，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司已進入項目融資的最後階段。

and Germany's chancellor was preparing for an election.

而德國總理正在準備選舉。

During his time in office, Gerhard Schroeder had become friendly with Putin and critics

在任期間，格哈德-施羅德曾與普京和批評者友好相處

in Germany were increasingly concerned about the Russian leader's growing influence.

在德國，人們越來越擔心俄羅斯領導人日益增長的影響力。

Just a few weeks before the election, Schroeder met with Putin

就在大選前幾周，施羅德會見了普京

to sign an agreement officially approving the pipeline.

簽署正式準許該管道的協議。

Two months later, Schroeder lost his re-election but by March he had found a new job:

兩個月後，施羅德失去了連任資格，但到了3月，他已經找到了新的工作。

overseeing Gazprom's pipeline to Germany.

監督俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司通往德國的管道。

It also came out that, before leaving office, Schroeder had approved a secret Gazprom loan

還有人爆料，在離任前，施羅德曾準許過一筆祕密的俄羅斯天然氣公司貸款

that provided over a billion euros to finance the project.

該項目提供了超過10億歐元的資金。

Soon, the story of Gazprom's big project in Germany was becoming a story of scandal,

很快，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司在德國的大項目的故事就變成了一個醜聞的故事。

corruption, and the creeping influence of Russia.

腐敗，以及俄羅斯的影響力不斷攀升。

But then the story changed.

但後來故事發生了變化。

In 2006, Gazprom signed a deal to sponsor the German soccer team FC Schalke 04.

2006年，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司簽署了贊助德國沙爾克04足球隊的協議。

At the time, Schalke's finances were worrying team officials and Gazprom's sponsorship

當時，沙爾克的財政狀況讓球隊官員憂心忡忡，而俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的贊助。

provided money the team desperately needed.

提供了球隊急需的資金。

At a press conference announcing the deal, a Gazprom chairman said Schalke's connections

在宣佈這筆交易的新聞發佈會上，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的一位主席表示，沙爾克的關係。

with the German energy sector were why they decided to become their sponsor.

與德國能源行業的合作是他們決定成為贊助商的原因。

Schalke plays in Gelsenkirchen - a town in Germany's Ruhr Valley, where much of the

沙爾克在蓋爾森基興踢球--德國魯爾河谷的一個小鎮，這裡的大部分人都是在這裡踢球。

country's energy industry is based.

國家的能源產業是基於。

It's also close to the town of Rehden, a hub for pipelines to the rest of Europe and home

它還靠近雷登鎮，這是一個通往歐洲其他地區的管道樞紐，也是雷登的家。

to Western Europe's largest natural gas storage facilities.

到西歐最大的天然氣儲存設施。

Schalke wasn't Gazprom's first soccer deal.

沙爾克並不是俄羅斯天然氣公司的第一筆足球交易。

The year before, they had bought a controlling stake in a team on the other end of the

前年，他們買下了另一端的一支球隊的控股權。

Nord Stream route: the Russian team Zenit St. Petersburg.

北流路線：俄羅斯球隊聖彼得堡澤尼特。

Gazprom's investment made Zenit a major force in soccer.

俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的投資使澤尼特成為足球界的主要力量。

Two years after taking control, Zenit won their first-ever league championship.

澤尼特在執掌球隊兩年後，首次獲得了聯賽冠軍。

They've been able to sign expensive foreign stars, like Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel

他們已經能夠簽下昂貴的外國球星，比如比利時中場阿克塞爾-維特塞爾。

and the Brazilian forward Hulk,

和巴西前鋒浩克。

and Gazrpom uses Zenit for marketing stunts:

和Gazrpom利用Zenit的營銷噱頭。

like having players scrimmage on the side of their offshore gas platform.

比如讓玩家在他們的海上天然氣平臺邊上進行比賽。

In 2006, as Gazprom logos were revealed around Schalke's stadium, German headlines were

2006年，隨著俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的標誌在沙爾克體育場周圍露出，德國的頭條新聞是

hailing the Russian gas giant for pumping millions into the German team.

歡呼俄羅斯天然氣巨頭為德國隊注入了數百萬美元。

To celebrate the deal, Schalke's new jersey was unveiled in a ceremony before Schalke

為了慶祝這筆交易，沙爾克的新球衣在沙爾克之前的儀式上亮相。

and Zenit played a friendly match in Russia.

和澤尼特在俄羅斯進行了一場友誼賽。

And, over the next few years, the Gazprom logo would become a team symbol displayed

而且，在接下來的幾年裡，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的標誌將成為一個顯示的團隊符號

at Schalke games and printed on official merchandise.

在沙爾克比賽中，並印在官方商品上。

Schalke also won a championship in 2011 and by then, Nord Stream had been completed, and that year,

沙爾克也在2011年奪得了冠軍，而那時，諾德流已經完成，當年。

Gerhard Schroeder, Angela Merkel and other European officials gathered to celebrate

格哈德-施羅德、默克爾等歐洲官員齊聚一堂慶祝

as it began pumping gas to Germany.

因為它開始向德國輸送天然氣。

There was also another struggling team whose jerseys started featuring Gazprom's logo:

還有另一支苦苦掙扎的球隊，他們的球衣開始印有Gazprom的標誌。

The Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.

塞爾維亞隊貝爾格萊德紅星。

Red Star was about 25 million dollars in debt when Gazprom signed to become their jersey sponsor.

當俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司簽約成為他們的球衣贊助商時，紅星公司大約負債2500萬美元。

And, again, there was also another pipeline: The South Stream would have bypassed Ukraine

而且，同樣，還有另一條管道。南溪管道將繞過烏克蘭

by going directly through Serbia to Southern Europe.

通過塞爾維亞直接前往南歐。

That project closed in 2014, but Gazprom has continued increasing their access to Europe

該項目已於2014年關閉，但俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司繼續增加對歐洲的訪問量

by building Nord Stream 2, a second pipeline doubling the amount of gas

通過建設北溪2號，即第二條管道，將天然氣量增加一倍。

flowing from Russia to Germany.

從俄羅斯流向德國。

Gazprom has also expanded their soccer empire to include energy partnerships with Chelsea

俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司也擴大了他們的足球帝國，包括與切爾西的能源合作。

football club, Champions League and the sport's most famous tournament: the FIFA World Cup.

足球俱樂部、歐洲冠軍聯賽和這項運動最著名的賽事：國際足聯世界盃。

These sponsorships have made Gazprom's logo familiar not just to fans in Europe,

這些贊助讓Gazprom的標誌不僅為歐洲的球迷所熟悉。

but across the world.

但在世界範圍內。

“We light up the football. Gazprom. Official partner."

"我們點亮了足球。Gazprom。官方合作伙伴。"

It's in commercials before games, and on jerseys and sidelines once it starts.

比賽前的廣告裡有，比賽開始後的球衣和邊線上也有。

FC Schalke fans have also started to see Nord Stream 2 ads at home games.

沙爾克俱樂部的球迷也開始在主場比賽中看到諾德流2廣告。

And, while climate activists like Greenpeace have staged protests to point out Gazprom's

而當綠色和平組織等氣候活動家舉行抗議活動，指出Gazprom的。

threat to Arctic resources, Gazprom had no trouble renewing their sponsorships.

對北極資源的威脅，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司不費吹灰之力就能續簽贊助。

Now, Russia controls nearly half the gas consumed by Europe

現在，俄羅斯控制了歐洲近一半的天然氣消費。

and other countries are learning from their example.

和其他國家正在學習他們的榜樣。

Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar Airways all are owned by sovereign states in the Middle East

阿提哈德航空、阿聯酋航空、卡達航空均為中東主權國家所有。

with interests that go beyond selling airline tickets.

的利益，而不僅僅是銷售機票。

As the example of Gazprom shows, having a prominent soccer sponsorship offers a way

正如俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的例子所顯示的那樣，擁有突出的足球贊助提供了一種方式。

around bad publicity by winning approval on the field.

通過贏得場上的認可，繞開不良宣傳。

If you're a fan, that can feel like a big opportunity: their money helps teams win major tournaments,

如果你是一個粉絲，那就會覺得這是一個很大的機會：他們的錢可以幫助球隊贏得重大賽事。

but it's starting to change the sport itself.

但它開始改變這項運動本身。

Now that it's become common to see a Serbian team sponsored by Russia's gas company facing

現在，由俄羅斯天然氣公司贊助的塞爾維亞隊面對的已經是司空見慣的事情了。

off against a French team sponsored by Dubai's state-owned airline, it's starting to seem

對陣由迪拜國有航空公司贊助的法國隊，它開始看起來像

like the field is hosting two competitions at once:

像場上同時舉辦兩場比賽。

A match between two teams,

兩隊之間的比賽。

and a larger play for foreign influence that continues long after the final whistle.

以及在終場哨響後長期持續的對外影響的更大戲碼。