FIFA rejects use of technology again

"He is a player of great talent, but that is not sufficient. It is necessary to look at how each player fits into the national team's scheme. It's something that goes beyond a player's individual quality, it's a question of the group. Ronaldinho does not deserve to go to the World Cup. He played few good games for Brazil and he was never decisive," Lula said to Associated Press.

Lula must have forgotten about the 2002 quarterfinals against England, when Ronaldinho beat David Seaman from a 35-yard free kick and gave Brazil a famous 2-1 win.

Dunga apparently shares Lula's opinion since he has not picked Ronaldinho since April 2009 and does not look like he will call him again any time soon, or ever again for that matter.

Chinese authorities put refs in a camp in a bid to make them confess

Corruption in soccer has became such a concern in China that the sporting authorities have rounded up hundreds of referees and coaches in two camps, one near Beijing, another in Canton province, in order to "reeducate" them and make them confess their offences.

According to reports in the South China Morning Post, these Satta King camps are the "last chance for them to own up to their crimes in exchange for lesser sentences."

The Chinese FA chairman Wei Di warned that those who fail to confess during the "grace period" will be severely punished.

Last year the country's communist president Hu Jintao expressed concern over the moral fragility in Chinese soccer, making the soccer officials fair game. Rarely does a week pass without news of new coaches, players, directors and referees being involved in illegal betting and match fixing.

The observers believe that soccer has become a testing ground for the national campaign against corruption at large. If the tactics involving concentration camps prove to work, they may be applied to the accused in other industries.