What we know: Burma's soccer scene is fairly abysmal -- its national league was created by the ruling junta in 2009 in what opposition press speculated to be a gimmick to win public favor before the November 2010 election. But its fans are world class. During the World Cup earlier this year, they turned out en masse to watch the England matches live -- apparently after listening to so much BBC's Burmese service, it's become a nation of British soccer supporters. What we learn: Turns out, the junta leader himself is a soccer junkie as well. A June 2009 cable takes us on a journey through the colorful business dealings of a junta regime crony named Zaw Zaw, who happens to be chairman of the Myanmar Football Federation. Zaw Zaw is a patron of the sport, owning a team called Delta United for which he is building a $1 million stadium to be finished in 2011. And the man clearly knows to whom he owes a favor: "Contacts confirm that Zaw Zaw hired Senior General Than Shwe's grandson to play on the team." That grandson, we learn in another cable, seems to have remarkable sway over Than Shwe's decisions -- at least when it comes to soccer: "One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer USD 1 billion for Manchester United. The Senior General thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own. In January, Secretary-1 reportedly told select Burmese businessmen that Than Shwe had "chosen" them to be the owners of the new professional soccer teams. XXXXXXXXXXXX said the owners are responsible for paying all costs, including team salaries, housing and transportation, uniform costs, and advertising for the new league. In addition, owners must build new stadiums in their respective regions by 2011, at an estimated cost of USD one million per stadium." Curveball: Various diplomatic cables debunk the rumors that North Korea may be aiding Burma in creating a nuclear program. While far from conclusive -- they refer to vague rumors of nuclear ambitions and long airport runways that are seemingly inexplicable -- the cables certainly make clear that Foggy Bottom is keeping tabs on what would be an alarming predicament indeed.