Prince William, his wife Catherine and his brother Prince Harry will promote British athletes in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics, their office announced on Thursday.

The trio said they were "honored" to become ambassadors for Team GB and ParalympicsGB, and will play an active role encouraging the public to support the teams.

Players from Barcelona and Real Madrid made up almost half of the 55-man shortlist revealed by FIFA on Thursday for the FIFA FIFPro World XI 2011, which will be announced on January 9.

Barcelona have 11 players in the list and Real 10.

Ukraine has finally opened all the stadiums that will host Euro 2012 matches but there remain fears that the biggest event the country has hosted since independence will be mired in organizational problems.

After repeated delays Ukraine in the last weeks opened a reconstructed stadium in the capital Kiev for the football extravaganza and a completely new venue in Lviv to go with already ready facilities in Kharkiv and Donetsk.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson apologized to United fans after his side were beaten 2-1 by Championship side Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarter finals on Wednesday.

Ferguson was upset with the manner of his side’s defeat, which also saw the Da Silva twins and Dimitar Berbatov forced off with injuries.

Europe's top football nations gather in Kiev on Friday to discover their fate when the draw takes place for Euro 2012 with all eyes looking out for the cliched 'Group of Death'.

The draw takes place at the National Palace of Arts in the Ukrainian capital with a host of previous European champions set to help out to decide which teams will play where and when with the tournament set to kick-off on June 8.

Tennis number one Novak Djokovic made his movie debut in Bulgaria this week with a brief appearance in Sylvester Stallone's mega-star production "Expendables 2", Nu Boyana film studios said.

"Djokovic has a small but not insignificant part in 'Expendables 2', where he plays himself," Dimitar Dereliev from Nu Boyana told AFP.

England's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is set to increase the circulation of a booklet offering guidance on coping with depression to 50,000 former players following Gary Speed's death.

Although no evidence has yet been produced that former Wales manager Speed, found hanged in his home last weekend, was suffering from depression, the PFA have decided now would be a good time to reissue the 36-page booklet.

The home of France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was burgled while he was playing against Roger Federer in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Swiss newspaper Le Matin reported on Wednesday.

The paper cited the player, who said he hoped he would still be able to "recognize his house" when he returns to Switzerland.

Brazil's 19-year-old superstar Neymar revealed on Wednesday that he has been ordered to pay 6,000 euros ($8,000) in damages for branding a referee a "thief" on his Twitter account.

He also announced that he would appeal against the decision, handed down by a court in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.

Qatar, future host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and past playground of several Arab and Asian games, is reaching for the moon as it eyes the 2020 Olympics despite seemingly insurmountable climate challenges.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already sent a positive signal to Doha by extending the period during which the games traditionally take place.