USM Alger set themselves up for progress to the last eight of the African Champions League with an away point on Friday, while Al Merreikh of Sudan won their derby 2-1 against Al Hilal to put themselves firmly in contention for progress in the continent's top club competition.

USMA remain top of Group B, with a home game to come in their last clash next weekend, after a 1-1 draw away against Al Ahli Tripoli of Libya, played in Sfax in Tunisia, and will be confident of a quarter-final berth.

The...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Organisers of the Asian Champions League are preparing to play a quarterfinal in neutral venues because of diplomatic tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

In a politically charged pairing drawn on Tuesday, Persepolis of Iran were drawn to host the first leg against Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia on Aug. 22. The return game is in mid-September.

The Asian Football Confederation ruled during the group stage that matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia would be moved to...