Former South Africa captain Mbulelo "OJ" Mabizela will not make a return to the Bafana Bafana fold on Wednesday when Carlos Alberto Parreira names the squad for a local camp in Durban, starting on Friday.
Calls for Mabizela's inclusion have resonated ahead of Wednesday's squad announcement, with the Platinum Stars defender himself mounting a self-promotion media campaign by telling one newspaper he's "better" than some players in the current side.
But it has been established Mabizela's name is not on the list that Bafana coach Parreira - who was expected to land in Johannesburg from Brazil this morning - will announce today for the January 15-28 local camp in KwaZulu-Natal's major city.
According to one source, Mabizela will continue to be ruled out of contention because he failed to honour a call up in September 2008.
"He has yet to explain why he didn't pitch for that camp. He can only be considered once he's spoken to us officially," the insider said.
While still at Mamelodi Sundowns, Mabizela failed to report for a Bafana Bafana camp ahead of their clash against Malawi.
It later emerged that he had crashed his car in his home town of Pietermaritzburg. Charges of reckless and drunken driving against him were later withdrawn.
Mabizela has won 45 international caps, 12 of them as captain.
Former Bafana coach Ted Dumitru said on Tuesday Mabizela was "correct" in his assessment that he's better than certain defenders in the Bafana set-up but warned the player is not ready for the rigours of international football.
"In terms of quality, he is 100 percent correct and I agree with him. He has got all the required qualities. But I don't think he's in the better shape than the players who are already in the side," Dumitru said.
Dumitru said it was not too late for Mabizela to push for a place in the World Cup squad. "Traditionally, we have had problems at centreback and I think a player like Mabizela can solve them if he's fit enough.
"He can be given a programme to follow and I'm sure he can bounce back. But the question is whether coach Parreira wants him."
For now, the answer to that is "no", with the Brazilian likely to stick to the likes of SuperSport United duo Morgan Gould and Bongani Khumalo and Lucas Thwala of Orlando Pirates as centrebacks when he names his team on Wednesday.
The squad is expected to include new faces, with Siyanda Xulu of Mamelodi Sundowns, Bloemfontein Celtic's Tlou Segolela and Thulani Serero, the Ajax Cape Town attacker, likely to feature.
Bafana are scheduled to leave for Durban on Friday and play two matches in the coastal city.