世界只有美職聯賽? 可知還有英式橄欖球聯盟
The Olympic spirit is returning to Britain. Three years after London hosted a memorable games, England is preparing to stage this autumn’s Rugby World Cup, one of the biggest sporting events of 2015.
The tournament’s Sebastian Coe equivalent is Ian Ritchie, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, English rugby’s governing body, in charge of making sure the event runs smoothly. “It really will be a festival environment,” he promises.
倫敦奧組委主席是塞巴斯蒂安•科(Sebastian Coe)，而本次賽事的主席是英式橄欖球聯盟(Rugby Football Union)的首席執行官伊恩•裏奇(Ian Ritchie)。該聯盟是英式橄欖球的管理機構，負責確保本次賽事順利進行。“這必將成爲一場充滿喜慶氣氛的盛事，”他許諾說。Such optimism is in sharp contrast to three years ago when Mr Ritchie started work at RFU headquarters in Twickenham, home to its imposing 80,000-seater stadium. He left a plum job — chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, organiser of Wimbledon — to rescue a governing body riven by infighting, legal wrangles and leaks. The England team had just completed a miserable 2011 World Cup campaign noted for off-field player indiscipline and revelry . “I came at quite an interesting time,” Mr Ritchie recalls with understatement.
裏奇的這種樂觀態度與3年前形成鮮明對比，那時他剛開始在RFU位於特威肯漢姆(Twickenham)的總部工作，聯盟壯觀的8萬人體育場也坐落於此。他辭去了一份稱心的工作——溫布爾登網球賽(Wimbledon)的主辦方全英草地網球和門球俱樂部(All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club)首席執行官——來挽救一個被內訌、法律糾紛和泄密弄得四分五裂的主管團體。英格蘭隊在2011年橄欖球世界盃上表現欠佳，球員被指在場外缺乏紀律並縱飲狂歡。“我是在一個非常有趣的時間點上任的，”裏奇輕描淡寫地回憶說。
Why on earth did he want the job in the first place? The All England Club had been a “fantastic” job for this Yorkshire-born and bred former television executive, he admits. His business acumen had steered it through six years of modernisation — building the centre court’s roof, introducing Hawk-Eye technology for disputed line calls, increasing rights revenues, upgrading facilities and giving women equal prize money to men.
他究竟爲什麼要幹這份工作？他承認，全英俱樂部對這位在約克郡(Yorkshire)出生並長大的前電視臺高管來說是一份“極好的”工作。他的商業頭腦帶領該俱樂部經歷了6年的現代化——建造中心場地的屋頂、爲有爭議的觸線球引入鷹眼(Hawk-Eye)技術、增加轉播權收入、升級場館設施以及給女性球員與男性球員一樣多的獎金。But perhaps it had become too easy. “I didn’t think that I was ever going to leave Wimbledon, frankly,” he says.
但也許這份工作對他來說已變得太輕鬆。他說，“坦白地講，我從未曾想過會離開溫布爾登。”His new challenge has been on many fronts: preparing for rugby’s showpiece tournament, modernising the RFU (described by former England captain Will Carling as a body run by “57 old farts”), building a coaching structure capable of producing a winning England team and creating a legacy from hosting the tournament.
他面臨的新挑戰來自許多方面：籌辦橄欖球項目首屈一指的錦標賽，推動RFU（前英格蘭隊隊長Will Carling所稱的由“57個老傢伙”管理的機構）現代化，組建一支能夠讓英格蘭隊奪冠的教練隊伍，以及通過舉辦本次賽事創造長期效益。On tournament preparations, he largely delegated. Mr Ritchie hired several London 2012 organisers to set up fan zones, recruit volunteers and sell tickets. Up to half a million foreign visitors are expected.
他把大部分賽事準備工作都委派給別人。裏奇僱用了幾名2012年倫敦奧運會的組織者，讓他們負責建立球迷區、招募志願者以及銷售門票。預計將有多達50萬外國遊客到來。But he has faced accusations of elitism — that rugby is predominantly played by public schoolboys and watched by affluent ex-public schoolboys. Just as Olympic events were oversubscribed, diehard rugby fans have also grumbled about how hard it is getting tickets. Seeing a World Cup match at Twickenham is almost impossible. One game attracted 650,000 applications.
但他也面臨精英主義的指控，即橄欖球項目主要由私立學校的男生參加比賽，富裕的私立學校校友觀賽。像奧運賽事門票被超額預定一樣，鐵桿橄欖球球迷也抱怨門票異常難買。到特威肯漢姆看一場世界盃比賽幾乎不可能。一場比賽就吸引了65萬購票申請。Mr Ritchie rejects the idea that for all his team’s efforts to make the World Cup accessible — with first-round matches at rugby and football grounds around the country — Twickenham remains off-limits to all but the very well off. “I don’t think it is a cauldron for the elite,” he says. Most of the Twickenham tickets for this year’s Six Nations tournament, which begins on Friday when England play Wales in Cardiff, are funnelled through rugby clubs for their supporters, he points out.
裏奇拒絕接受這樣一種說法，即儘管他的團隊想方設法讓更多人能夠觀戰此次世界盃——第一輪比賽將在全英的橄欖球和足球場進行——但仍然只有特別有錢的人才有幸到特威肯漢姆看比賽。“我不認爲這是一場只爲精英舉辦的賽事，”他說。他指出，以今年在特威肯漢姆舉行的六國錦標賽（第一場是週五英格蘭與威爾士在卡地夫舉行的比賽）爲例，大部分門票都通過橄欖球俱樂部發放到了他們的支持者手中。But he adds: “The Rugby World Cup’s a different situation, I agree, and you’ve got to have some things at the top end. But, I think, it’s a balance, a bit like the Olympics.” The Rugby World Cup is also different because the RFU had to give World Rugby, the global governing body, an £80m guarantee — to “get the gig”, as Mr Ritchie puts it. “You have to make sure that you deal with that and cover it.” It will also be “a big corporate gig”, he says. A corporate box for England’s crucial first-round clash with Australia costs up to £50,000.
但他補充說：“我同意，橄欖球世界盃的情況不一樣，你總得有點高端的東西。但是，我認爲，這是一種平衡，有點像奧運會。”裏奇介紹說，橄欖球世界盃還有一點不同，因爲它必須給該項目的全球主管機構——國際橄欖球理事會(World Rugby) 8000萬英鎊保證金，才能“獲得舉辦權”。“你必須確保拿得出這筆錢，並且把它收回來。”這也將是“一場大型企業賽事”，他說。英格蘭與澳大利亞第一輪關鍵對決的公司包廂費用高達5萬英鎊。“The money that comes into all this sort of thing goes directly back into the game. This is not going into a shareholder’s pocket,” he says. The RFU will spend £80m this year on grassroots rugby, on projects such as a new clubhouse for a club in Gloucestershire whose changing facilities not so long ago were a horse box with straw on the floor.
“這些收入都直接再次投入這項運動，而不會流入股東的口袋，”他說。今年RFU將投入8000萬英鎊資助基層橄欖球運動，項目包括爲格羅斯特郡(Gloucestershire)的一個俱樂部修建新的會所，不久前該俱樂部的更衣室還設在一個馬棚裏，地板上有麥稈。Such spending on community projects is important to the RFU. Money is also being spent on getting more state schools playing rugby.
社區項目上的此類支出對RFU很重要。一些資金也被用於讓更多的公立學校開展橄欖球項目。But has he really reformed the governance of a body that seemed on the point of self-destruction just three years ago? “We’re in a good place,” he claims. He recruited three independent directors from business to the RFU board, including Helen Weir, outgoing John Lewis finance director, and Andy Cosslett, Fitness First chief executive.
但是，他真的改革了一個3年前似乎瀕臨自我毀滅的團體的治理模式嗎？“我們現在情況很好，”他說。他從商界招募了三名獨立董事進入RFU董事會，包括零售企業約翰•路易斯(John Lewis)即將離任的財務總監海倫•韋爾(Helen Weir)，以及菲力斯第一健身俱樂部(Fitness First)的首席執行官高蓄來(Andy Cosslett)。Mr Ritchie says he has sought to “integrate” the RFU’s activities, from negotiating TV contracts to building community facilities. The RFU Council — the supposed “old farts”that represent the grassroots — is “extremely important”, he says. And on the financial side, the RFU has strengthened.
裏奇說，他已試圖“整合”RFU的活動——從談判電視轉播合同到建造社區設施。他說，RFU委員會——也就是所謂的“老傢伙”，他們代表基層——“非常重要”。同時，RFU已經增強了資金方面的實力。Money and rugby are strange bedfellows. This is a sport that turned professional only 20 years ago, that prides itself on values such as respect, sportsmanship and discipline, between players and between spectators.
金錢和橄欖球奇怪地糾結在一起。這是一項只有20年曆史的職業運動，它引以爲傲的是球員之間以及觀衆之間的相互尊重、體育精神和紀律性等價值觀。“The great beauty of rugby games is no segregation,” says Mr Ritchie. Aussies, English, Welsh, French sit with each other, “part of the camaraderie of the game”. Large amounts of alcohol are consumed but little unpleasantness ensues. “You want to have a family environment,” he adds.
“橄欖球運動的偉大之處在於沒有隔閡，”裏奇說。澳大利亞人、英格蘭人、威爾士人以及法國人都坐在一起，這是“體育友誼的一部分”。人們飲用大量酒品，但很少發生不愉快。“你希望有一個大家庭般的環境，”他補充說。But to some rugby purists, the RFU has, under Mr Ritchie, taken on a zeal for making money that sits uneasily with rugby’s core values. It employs 640 people. There is a busy commercial department working on maximising income. “I always love it sometimes when you get this ‘oh, the overly commercial RFU’,” says Mr Ritchie. “I don’t see it that way at all. We’re providing a great customer experience.”
但一些橄欖球純粹主義者認爲，裏奇執掌的RFU熱衷於賺錢，與橄欖球的核心價值觀格格不入。RFU僱用了640個人，包括一個繁忙的商業部門，負責使收入最大化。“我總是喜歡有時聽到別人說‘噢，RFU過度商業化了’，”裏奇說。“我一點兒也不這樣認爲。我們在提供一流的客戶體驗。”There is always plenty of optimism about the legacy benefits of hosting a major sporting event. But it does not always turn out that way, as London 2012 has discovered. Swimming, which saw once-a-week participation among adults in England rise to 2.9m on the back of the Olympics, suffered a fall of 245,000 last year.
對於舉辦一項重大體育賽事之後能帶來的遺留效益，總是有很多樂觀的估計。但事實並非總是如此，就像倫敦2012年奧運會之後經歷的一樣。那屆奧運會之後，每週參加游泳的英格蘭成年人數量增加到了290萬，而去年減少了24.5萬。Does the RFU stand a better chance of success? Six years ago, there were 230,000 adults in England playing rugby once a week. That dropped to 160,000 in 2013, before getting up to 179,000. Mr Ritchie expects the tournament to boost participation.
RFU有取得成功的更好機會嗎？6年前，英格蘭有23萬成年人每週都玩橄欖球。這一數字在2013年降至16萬，不久又升至17.9萬。裏奇希望此次賽事可以擴大民衆參與。“It’s the hardest gig in town to get people playing that regularly in a team sport,” he says. “That’s why this is the best opportunity that we will have.”
“這是最難讓人們經常參與的團隊運動，”他說。“這就是爲什麼此次賽事將是我們的最好機會。”
