TEHRAN, Dec. 4--Iran’s Artists Soccer Team will play a football match organized by a charity organization against Tarbiat-e-Yazd team in Yazd on Thursday.
According to IRNA, profits of the match will be donated to cancer patients. The match will be held at Yazd’s Shahid Nasiri Stadium at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Noted actors, Iraj Nozari, Kambiz Dirbaz, Amir Noori and Nima Nakisa will play in the Artists team.
Organizers of the event will also commemorate late Manouchehr Nozari, the well-known radio and TV presenter.

Iran's water polo team will take part on 3-10 March 2008 in Group B to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

ORADEA, Romania, Dec. 4--Iran’s water polo team will play against Mexico, Germany, Italy, Canada and Macedonia in Group B to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.Ê
This is the last qualification event for proceeding to the Olympic Games, wrote FINA (International Swimming Federation) website.Ê
The 12-team tournament will be held in Oradea, Romania, on 3-10 March 2008 and the top three teams will qualify for the Olympic Games.Ê
Romania, Russia, Brazil, Greece, Kazakhstan and a team from America will be playing in Group A.
China (host), Montenegro, the US, Australia, (Egypt or South Africa), Croatia, Hungary, Spain and Serbia have already qualified. Ê
According to FINA’s regulations, a total of 12 teams will be attending the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.Ê
Six teams from Europe, three teams from America, two Asian teams and one team from Africa will also attend the Olympic Games.

BANGKOK, Thailand Dec. 4--The Iranian Football Federation (IFF) is likely to postpone this week’s election for a new president after world governing body FIFA refused to recognize the polls, an IFF official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The election, scheduled for Thursday, is expected to be put back because of a dispute over the IFF’s new statutes, Amirhossein Karimpour, the IFF’s head of international relations, said.
The statutes, approved by FIFA in June, are aimed at halting political meddling in the Iranian game.
“We expect the election to be postponed, probably until January,“ Karimpour said by telephone. “A decision is expected soon. We still have some problems about the statutes.“
The dispute surrounds the candidacy of Mohammad Aliabadi, one of Iran’s vice-presidents and head of the country’s Physical Education Organization (PEO).
Iran were temporarily suspended from international matches in November last year because of excessive political interference in domestic soccer, mainly by the PEO, which has run sport in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
FIFA said it would not recognize the election because new statutes drafted by the IFF’s transitionary board stipulated that politicians would be barred from taking the top post.
“FIFA had informed the IFF last week that if the candidacy of the PEO Chairman, Mr Aliabadi, for the planned IFF presidential election was confirmed, the world’s football governing body would not be in a position to recognize this election,“ a FIFA spokesman said.
“In fact, as stipulated in the version of the IFF Statutes which had been approved by FIFA in June this year, the PEO Chairman and Vice-Chairman can become members of the IFF General Assembly but cannot be elected as IFF President.“
Iran are one of the most successful teams in Asian soccer and have won the Asian Cup three times and made appearances in two of the last three World Cup finals.

BALTIMORE, USA, Dec. 4--The New England Patriots overcame a lackluster performance and frigid temperatures to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 27-24 on Monday and remain on course to become the NFL’s first unbeaten team in 35 years.
According to Reuters, with the Ravens leading 24-20, New England quarterback Tom Brady engineered a magnificent 13-play, 73-yard drive to silence a record crowd of 71,382 at a sold-out M&T Bank Stadium.
Brady completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds remaining to give the three-times Super Bowl champions the victory.
“It was a long drive, which came down to third downs and fourth downs,“ said Brady. “We executed when we needed to.“
But the Patriots quarterback was far from satisfied with team’s overall performance.
“We have to execute better, run better routes, throw better passes, make better catches and block better,“ he added.
Twice in the final drive Brady faced fourth downs but managed to emerge unscathed.
He ran for 12 yards on a fourth and six, and a holding call on a fourth and five with less than a minute left gave the Patriots a first and goal at the Baltimore eight-yard line.

ROME, Dec. 4--Italian Olympic Committee anti-doping prosecutors recommended Monday that cyclist Luca Ascani should be banned for the maximum two years after testing positive for EPO.
According to AP, traces of the blood-boosting hormone were found in Ascani’s A and B samples at the Italian national championships on June 26, when he won the time trial.
Ascani was suspended Aug. 2 by the Italian cycling federation pending the outcome of CONI’s investigation. The cycling federation will now make a ruling on the case.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard stuffs a shot against the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Nov. 9.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, Dec. 4-- The Orlando Magic ended the Golden State Warriors’ six-game winning streak with a 123-117 overtime victory on Monday.
Dwight Howard muscled his way to 18 points and 23 rebounds and blocked seven shots to help earn the Magic their 16th win in 20 games. They are a league-best 11-2 in road games, Reuters wrote.
Orlando’s Rashard Lewis forced overtime with two free throws with 13 seconds to tie the score at 109-109.
Stephen Jackson’s jumper at the start of overtime gave the Warriors a brief 111-109 lead but that would be the last time the Warriors, who once trailed by 14, would have the advantage.
Howard tied the score at 111-111 on a dunk and Hedo Turkoglu put Orlando ahead to stay with a jumper. Keith Bogans added a layup and Turkoglu scored again to make it 117-111.
Jameer Nelson and Bogans led the Magic with 22 points with Lewis contributing 20. Turkoglu (17), Maurice Evans (11) and Keyon Dooling (10) were also in double figures for the Magic.
Jackson topped the Warriors with 25 points. Monta Ellis added 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
*Josh Howard had 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki 25 and the Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Chicago Bulls for a 103-98 road win. Andres Nocioni had 30 points for Chicago, scoring 14 of them in the fourth quarter.

MANCHESTER, Britain, Dec. 4--Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has described Cristiano Ronaldo’s yellow card for diving against Fulham as “ridiculous“.
Ronaldo fell while trying to hurdle a challenge from Fulham keeper Antti Niemi, and referee Rob Styles booked the winger for gamesmanship, according to BBC.
But Ferguson said: “Why would he want to go down? He was on a hat-trick.
“His reputation from years ago is still playing on the minds of referees. It was a ridiculous decision.“
The Manchester United manager said that Ronaldo no longer deserved the diving tag that was attached to the Portuguese winger in his early days at the club.
“It is quite unfair because he is nothing like that now“, said Ferguson. “He is more mature and a magnificent footballer.“
Replays showed that Niemi did not touch the ball and forced Ronaldo to take evasive action but it was unclear how much contact was made.
Ronaldo himself refused to condemn Styles but was certain the referee had got the decision wrong.
“I try to do my job and I try to play honestly“, he said. “I respect the referee’s decision but I do not have the same opinion because I thought it was a penalty.
“If you see the replay, the goalkeeper never touched the ball, so it is frustrating the referee gave me a yellow card.“

LONDON, Dec. 4--Former British number one Greg Rusedski will play at the BlackRock Masters Tennis at London’s Royal Albert Hall after Goran Ivanisevic withdrew.
Rusedski stepped in after Ivanisevic failed to recover from a hamstring injury in time for Tuesday’s start, BBC wrote.
Bjorn Borg pulled out last week with an elbow injury.
Rusedski, who only retired in April, will be a strong favorite to beat the likes of John McEnroe, Pat Cash, Michael Stich and Jeremy Bates.
Guy Forget, Sergi Bruguera, Henri Leconte, Cedric Pioline, Paul Haarhuis, Anders Jarryd and Wayne Ferreira complete the line-up.
The 12-man event will be drawn into four groups of three players.
All players in each group will play each other in the round-robin stages, with the top two players in each group advancing to the quarter-finals.
Tim Henman played against two-time Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg during Tuesday’s evening session to raise money for his Kids at Heart charity.

Montreal Canadiens' Patrice Brisebois (r) gets a glove in the face from Nashville Predators' Scott Nichol during the second period of NHL hockey action in Montreal on Dec. 1.

NEW YORK, Dec. 4--Nashville Predators forward Scott Nichol has been suspended for five games for high-sticking Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois, the NHL said on Monday.
Nichol was assessed a double minor at 16:40 of the second period during the Predators’ 5-4 victory over the Canadiens on Saturday, Reuters wrote.
“The crosscheck by Mr. Nichol to the head area of his opponent was reckless and dangerous,“ Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, said in a statement.
“Although no serious injury resulted, the action is unacceptable.“
Nichol, who was suspended nine games for an incident in 2006, is now considered a “repeat offender“ under the terms of the NHL’s labor agreement. He will forfeit around $46,000 in salary during the suspension.
The 32-year-old Nichol will be eligible to return December 15 at Colorado.

MIAMI, USA, Dec. 4--The Washington Redskins joined with players and officials from other NFL teams and several thousand mourners to play their final respects to safety Sean Taylor at Florida International University on Monday.
“It was a great, great funeral,“ Redskins linebacker London Fletcher told reporters after the service.
“I think today everyone saw how much Sean was loved.“
The 24-year-old Taylor was shot dead during a break-in at his Miami home last week, Reuters wrote. Four men have been charged in connection with his death.
Among those speaking at the service were NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Taylor’s team mates.
“It was tremendous to see not only guys who played with him at the University but there were also players who had not played with Sean who attended the funeral,“ Fletcher said.
“That just showed a lot of support and love that they have for him.“
Among those at the service were 28 NFL players, who like Taylor, played at the University of Miami.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 4--Eddie Ockenden’s goal was enough for Olympic champions Australia to see off a battling Great Britain 1-0 at the Champions Trophy in Malaysia.
Ockenden struck after 25 minutes as Australia took their Champions Trophy unbeaten run against GB to 15 games, BBC wrote.
Barry Middleton missed an opportunity to equalize just after the restart but Britain carved out few other chances.
“We found it hard to exert pressure on them from an attacking point of view,“ admitted manager Pete Nicholson.
“But there were some pleasing performances and we are starting to move in the right direction.“
Great Britain, who have won one of their four games so far in Kuala Lumpur, next face Pakistan on Wednesday.
They are one of eight teams competing in the second most important event after the World Cup.
Each side plays the other seven once before a series of play-offs determine the final standings.

LONDON, Dec. 4--Ricky Hatton’s team have given their approval to the appointment of Joe Cortez as referee for Saturday’s showdown with Floyd Mayweather.
According to BBC, Cortez oversaw Hatton’s win over Jose Luis Castillo in the summer with no complaints from the Briton’s camp.
Trainer Billy Graham had voiced concerns that a weaker official might attempt to rein in the fighter’s trademark rugged style.
“All we want is a fair shake and hopefully we’ll get one,“ said Graham.
The veteran Puerto Rican is deemed more likely to allow Hatton to draw Mayweather into a close up confrontation, which many feel is his best chance of victory.
Graham also hopes the referee is not tempted to bring the fight to a premature end because of cuts.
“I’m a realist“, he said. “I always worry about facial injuries and cuts but we’ve got a great cuts man in Mick Williamson and I hope we’ve got a referee who is not squeamish.“