Football — Behind the beautiful game

History of football: The beautiful game is a 13-part groundbreaking series that tells the definitive story of the game which generates more excitement, passion and wealth across the world than any other sport.
DStv will be screening the serial every week day which showcases the biggest spectacle of this game that started with a group of men chasing a ball made of pig skin.
The serial analyses dominant club sides such as Liverpool, Real Madrid and AC Milan, looks at the evolution of the Brazilian team. It also investigates issues such as football as an agent of control in Victorian England and the revolution in French football that created the 1998 World Champions.
It features interviews with superstars from the past and present including Pelé and Maradona to Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane; takes an in-depth look at topics ranging from the origins of football and how the modern game developed, to the superstars that have graced the playing field and turned football into the most popular sport on earth.
With the World Cup being hosted on African soil for the first time this year, the series also looks at the development of football in Africa, explores the saturated media interest in the sport and examines the dark side of the game, from hooliganism to tragedies.
The tournament has been held every four years since the first tournament was held in 1930. The only two occasions it was not held were during the period of the Second World War between 1942 and 1946.
Viewers are invited to tune into BBC Knowledge on DStv channel 251 at 7.05pm this month to find out just what makes soccer or football the global phenomenon that it is.