While sporting attention is turned to the draw for the preliminary round of the 2010 Soccer World Cup this weekend, a different view of soccer in South Africa is being premiered in front of a celebrity audience on Friday. Director Junaid Ahmed's film More Than Just a Game tells the story of how political prisoners on Robben Island used soccer as one of the means of survival.

Former defender Gary Neville says England is unlikely to win a major soccer tournament for at least 10 years because of too few good players.

Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Valencia all maintained their 100% records with their third straight wins as the Champions League group phase reached the halfway stage on Wednesday. Chelsea handed European champions Barcelona a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in Group A where Didier Drogba scored an outstanding individual goal after 47 minutes.

A plan by wealthy supporters to buy Manchester United has been put on hold, leaving the club's American owners firmly in control.

Zambia defended their Afcon crown in frustrating fashion with a 1-1 draw against an Ethiopia side whose goalkeeper was red-carded.

From the earliest days of January to the last days of December, this was a year of tragedy, scandal and controversy for the world's most popular sport

Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke made a scathing attack on Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup on Friday, saying "not a lot is moving".

Fifa have banned British teams from wearing embroidered poppies on their shirts to mark Remembrance Day in friendlies this week.