It happens every four years, when soccer fans the world over tune in to cheer on their national teams in what's probably the biggest international sporting event in the world. 

Unfortunately for China, their team didn't make it into this year's event.  In fact, the national team is an ongoing source of desperation for the country's millions of soccer-mad fans.  But just because team China isn't taking part, that doesn't mean others in the country don't have cause to celebrate, as ST finds out.

The Chinese soccer team may not have been able to qualify for the World Cup, but that doesn't mean that the Chinese aren't soccer crazy. Recently in Jilin province, more than 1000 people gathered to prove this. BON's Steffi Lau reports…

We're almost at the halfway stage of the World Cup, an event that gathers the best footballers on the planet in one country, who then battle it out for national glory on a soccer pitch.  The event is such an extravaganza of jingoism that even those who are normally indifferent to the sport can get swept up in a wave of national fervor.  China is no exception, of course. 

The love for soccer really reached fever pitch back in 2002, when the national team qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in their history.  Unfortunately, the country's millions of soccer fans were brought crashing back to reality when team China were sent out of the tournament in the group stages, without even one goal to their name. 

This summer's soccer world cup may be going ahead without china's national team, which didn't qualify. But a stripped down version of the sport is rapidly gaining in popularity here, raising new hopes of international success. BON's Tom Spender has the story.

China's soccer scandal continues. And in the latest twist to this murky tale, it's been reported that Chinese players paid huge bribes for places at the national football team's training camp - and even bigger ones to play in international matches. Earlier in the week police detained the China Football Association's former top official, Nan Yong, and deputy Yang Yimin. According to the Oriental Post, a single trip to the national youth squad's camp cost $12,000, while a place at the adult team's camp was priced at $15,000. A call-up to an actual official match required a bribe of $30,000.

Investigators launched a drive against match fixing and corruption last year following complaints from state leaders over poor performance by the national team, which now ranks No. 93 in the world. Last month, 16 team officials and others were arrested on suspicion of bribing or threatening players and referees to determine the outcome of games they had bet on.

The new head of China's soccer federation has pledged to attack corruption and lift the Asian sporting power's lowly international ranking.

Wei Di said Tuesday the widely disparaged Chinese Football Association faces numerous "difficult hurdles," starting with restoring its public image.

Wei says the leadership must eliminate cheating and bribery. He also says "we should also look to our problems as a chance to start anew."

A sweeping probe of match fixing and bribery allegations has netted more than a dozen players and officials, including Wei's predecessor Nan Yong.

Soccer is widely popular in China, even though the men's national team is ranked No. 97 in the world.