"I hope, once again, that we will get some good news ... that all of this was a nightmare and it wasn’t true. I fear that it’s true and that we’re in the middle of something very serious."

-- French 1998 World Cup-winning defender Lilian Thuram on reports that the French soccer federation may have agreed to limit the number of black and Arab players in national training programs. The investigative web site Mediapart reported senior figures in the federation approved proposals to limit to 30 percent the number of players of African and North African descent in training academies once they reach 13 years of age. (AP)