For not having a team in the World Cup, China is getting deeply immersed in soccer--and not always in a healthy way. To many Chinese fans, the sport seems trapped in a cycle of corruption and disappointment. The most recent embarrassment came this week with revelations of an underground 'sick leave' industry in which unscrupulous soccer fans purchase fake doctor's notes to take time off from work and watch the World Cup.

中國國家隊沒能入選世界杯并不妨礙中國深深沉迷于足球，只是有時方法并不健康。對很多中國球迷來說，中國足球看起來陷入了腐敗和失望的怪圈。最近一件令人尷尬的事情發生在本周，有報導披露中國出現了地下“世界杯病假條”行業，不擇手段的球迷買偽造的醫生病假條，翹班看世界杯。

An article on Wednesday in the Shanghai Daily reports that sales of notes certifying imaginary ailments are skyrocketing. Fans can buy notes for anything from a one-day fever to a full-blown pregnancy in order to see the games. The People's Daily writes that 'Employers Fear the World Cup' because so many employees are faking illness to get out of work or stumbling into the office after having stayed up all night to watch soccer matches. In the first round of the World Cup, games regularly aired at 2:30 a.m. in China, finishing around 4 a.m. or later. That only gives fans a few hours to buy a fake sick note on www.taobao.com, a site alleged to have been connecting buyers and 'doctors,' before work.

《上海日報》周三的一篇文章報導說，世界杯病假條的銷售非常火爆。球迷可以買到各種病假條，從短到一天的發燒，到漫長的懷孕待產，為的就是看世界杯。《人民日報》發表題為《老板們的“世界杯恐懼癥”》的文章，因為有太多的員工裝病翹班或在熬夜看球后頭昏眼花地來上班。在世界杯第一輪比賽中，賽事常常是在北京時間凌晨兩點半直播，在四點左右甚至更晚結束。這樣，球迷在上班前就只有幾個小時的時間在淘寶網(www.taobao.com)上買偽造病假條。該網站據稱能為買家和“醫生”牽線搭橋。

On top of this, Chinese police are announcing the results of an investigation into online gambling, a problem which has continually plagued Chinese soccer.

此外，中國警方宣布了打擊網絡賭球的結果。網絡賭球一直是困擾中國足球的一個問題。

According to a Xinhua article on Tuesday, people have been arrested this time. So far, police have broken 740 online gambling cases nationwide. While Chinese soccer gambling is not the worst in the world, it is unusually widespread for a country in which soccer is not a traditional pastime.

據新華社周二的文章，這次有人被拘捕了。目前為止，警方已經在全國破獲了740起網絡賭球案件。盡管中國足球賭博并非世界上最嚴重的，對于一個足球并非傳統休閑項目的國家來說，卻是少見的泛濫。

As if fake sick notes and illegal gambling weren't enough, Chinese fans are calling for the national men's team to be dismissed. It seems the combination of the failure to qualify for the World Cup and recent successes by other Asian teams has turned Chinese fans against the men's team. A forum on Kaixin.com, a popular Chinese networking site whose name means 'happiness,' expresses the Chinese fans' ire. According to an article in the China Daily, a strong majority of fans are voting that 'the Chinese national men's team should be dismissed.' To be sure, kaixin polls are not scientific metrics of public opinion. Nevertheless, this one appears to tap into a real enough sentiment.

除了偽造病假條和非法賭球之外，中國球迷還呼吁解散中國男足。看起來，沒能入選世界杯加上最近其他亞洲球隊的紛紛成功讓中國球迷對中國男足越發不滿。頗受歡迎的中文社交網站開心網(Kaixin.com)上的一個論壇表達了中國球迷的不滿。據《中國日報》的一篇文章，大部分球迷支持“中國男足應該解散”。不錯，開心網的調查并非對公眾輿論的科學衡量。不過，看起來卻顯示了足夠真實的公眾情緒。

What new problems for China will arise as the World Cup rolls on? At this point, no news would be good news. Those tired of bad press for Chinese soccer may find themselves hoping for the World Cup to be over.

隨著世界杯的繼續，中國還會出現什么新問題？目前，沒有消息就是好消息。那些對中國足球負面消息已經厭煩了的人可能會發現自己希望世界杯快點結束。