虎扑07月16日讯 The Athletic UK通讯记者Matt Slater撰写因凡蒂诺专栏。
WOODSTOCK, Ill. -- A judge convicted a former state child welfare worker Friday of child endangerment in connection with the 2019 beating death of a 5-year-old suburban Chicago boy by his mother, but the judge acquitted the man's supervisor.Lake County Judge George Strickland found Carlos Acosta, 57 of Woodstock, who was a case investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, guilty of the child endangerment charge but acquitted him of a reckless conduct charge, news outlets reported.Strickland said he could not find Acosta’s supervisor, Andrew Polovin, 51, of Island Lake, guilty of either charge because he did not know how much Polovin knew about the abuse of the boy, Andrew “AJ” Freund of Crystal Lake.AJ died in April 2019 after being beaten by his mother. JoAnn Cunningham. She is serving a 35-year sentence for his murder.The boy’s father, Andrew Freund Sr., was sentenced to 30 years in prison for covering up the murder by burying the boy’s body in a field.Acosta and Polovin were accused of ignoring numerous warning signs of the boy’s abuse.Polovin’s attorney, Matthew McQuaid, said he and his client were “grateful” for the verdict.“I never thought he committed a crime,” McQuaid said.He said Polovin, who was fired by the state, now works in a different field.Authorities said Cunningham killed AJ on April 15, 2019, after she became angry about soiled underwear that he had tried to hide. She forced the boy to stand in a cold shower for at least 20 minutes, hit him in the head with the shower head, and then put him to bed cold, wet and naked, authorities said.AJ’s body was found wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave near the family’s home in Crystal Lake.。因凡蒂诺在接受瑞士媒体Bluewin采访时，实际上证实了自己将继续推进世界杯扩军至64支球队的计划。尽管他此前曾表示，在刚从32队扩至48队之后不应这么快再次扩军，且国际足联理事会内部也有成员对此持反对意见。国际足联主席詹尼-因凡蒂诺的言论表明，这一议题将在2030年世界杯之前进行探讨。但这行得通吗？毕竟，他的论点大概会是这样的：本届预选赛中，10支非洲球队有9支打进了32强；只有库拉索遭遇惨败（以1-7输给德国，尽管他们也曾逼平击败过德国队的厄瓜多尔队）；还有佛得角的表现又如何呢？
更别提扩军至64队还能解决一些荒谬的问题：比如小组赛12个小组第三名中只有8个能晋级的尴尬规则，或者像苏格兰这样的球队必须苦苦等待、在踢完更多比赛前都不知道自己是出局还是晋级的情况；同时还能增加24场比赛卖给转播商，甚至可能腾出名额让中国、印度、意大利和尼日利亚等国球队参赛。
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他甚至可能试图说服那些持怀疑态度的人，声称2030年扩军至64队只是一次性举措，旨在隆重纪念首届世界杯百年诞辰——即让曾举办首届赛事的南美洲承办四组小组赛，而不是区区三场比赛……但这种事一旦开了先例，就像挤出的牙膏一样再也塞不回去了；正如我们即将见证的那样，足球比赛正突然从“上下半场”制转变为“四节”制。如果说那种赤裸裸的敛财行径——或者用那位全球头号“幸福缔造者”的话来说，这是顺理成章的下一步——让你感到反感，那么对于一项由48支球队参加、或许每两年（而非四年）举办一次的世俱杯，你又作何感想呢？加码投入、全面出击、不断索取、迫使对手转入防守——因凡蒂诺深谙此道。
三 | 至于他是否真正维护了这项运动的长远利益？这恐怕还有待观察。当然，亚足联、中北美及加勒比海地区足联和欧足联可能会继续反对64支球队参加的世界杯……但也可能发现，其成员国已不再认为扩充参赛队伍有什么坏处，尤其是考虑到这能进一步增加他们从国际足联获得的拨款。
四 | 毕竟，如果佛得角、库拉索、海地和乌兹别克斯坦都能获得参赛资格，那他们为何不能呢？同样，欧洲足球俱乐部协会主席纳赛尔-阿尔-赫莱菲或许会坚定捍卫欧洲顶级联赛及洲际杯赛的地位，从而坚决抵制规模更大或举办频率更高的世俱杯……但也可能这位巴黎圣日耳曼和beIN体育的掌门人会意识到大势所趋，转而选择顺水推舟。事实上，在我们那项非正式调查中，几位受访者指出，无论这一合资项目最终形态如何，终究需要一位掌舵人；而一手促成此事的因凡蒂诺，无疑是最佳人选。如此一来，他和阿尔-赫莱菲或许能互换职位——正如The Athletic去年首次提出的那样。这肯定比因凡蒂诺（再次）修改章程、废除三届限制以延长其在国际足联的任期（超过2031年）更有可能发生吧？“眼下我不排除任何可能性，”一位忧心忡忡的受访者说道。
五 | “我想，他身边的人会抛出这个想法，”另一位人士说道，“这或许会成为各大洲足联真正的‘红线’——不过，我可不敢拿身家性命去打赌。”也有人猜测，沙特方面或许会为他安排一个类似“足球掌门人”的职位；尽管目前尚不清楚沙特在搅动全球体坛格局方面的决心究竟有多大，而且这位“掌门人”到了2034年时，其麾下的“帝国”可能早已不复存在。来源：纽约时报
