Ali Shadlou previously set a record by swimming 615 kilometers (380 miles) across the Caspian Sea in August.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8--A young Iranian athlete, Ali Shadlou, announced that he intends to swim about 120 kilometers (75 miles) across the Persian Gulf. Ê
According to PressTV, Shadlou, a member of the Mountain Rescue and Relief Team and also a certified beach lifeguard said that he plans to swim from Dubai to Bandar Abbas. Ê
This is while Shadlou previously set a record by swimming 615 kilometers (380 miles) across the Caspian Sea in August. Ê
He described his athletic experiences as a symbolic gesture to voice support for the anti-narcotics campaign. Ê
It took Shadlou two months (between 10 to 12 hours each day) to swim across the Caspian Sea in August.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8--Esmail Vatankhah, Islamic Azad University’s futsal player, was given a two-year ban after he tested positive in the doping test on Friday.
Iran Anti-Doping Committee had taken samples from different Iranian futsal teams before the Second Asian Indoor Games was going to be held in Macau two months ago, ISNA reported.
Vatankhah’s A and B samples tested positive which resulted in his suspension for two years from all athletic activities.
Another futsal player, Farahnak who played for Shahrdari Anzal (Anzal Municipality) Futsal Team has already been banned by the committee because he also tested positive.

KERMAN, Dec. 8--Mes-e Kerman football club eventually accepted Farhad Kazemi’s resignation on Friday.Ê
The head coach had announced his resignation a long time ago, but the executive board of Mes-e Kerman Football Club had not accepted it, Mehr News Agency wrote.Ê
Following the poor results by Mes-e Kerman in Iran’s Premier League (IPL), Kazemi decided to leave the team.Ê
Mehdi Mohammadi has been named as interim coach of Mes-e Kerman.

MOSCOW, Dec. 8--The first World Capitals Taekwondo Tournament opened Saturday in Moscow.Ê
Tehran’s Taekwondo Team is representingÊIran in the tournament which is taking place in Moscow on December 8-9, Mehr News Agency reported.
Tehran’s men team was to play against Moscow B, Tashkent, Baku, and Belgrade in Group D.
A total of 21 teams are attending the taekwondo event in four groups.
Women team plays against Moscow A, Chisinau, Zagreb, Baku, Warsaw and Beijing.

DETROIT, USA, Dec. 8--Andres Nocioni scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half to help the Chicago Bulls snap the Detroit Pistons’ five-game winning streak with a 98-91 victory on Friday.
Former Piston Ben Wallace added 10 points, 13 rebounds and had four blocked shots for the Bulls, who grabbed their fourth victory in five games, Reuters wrote.
Nocioni put the Bulls in front 73-71 with two free throws to start the fourth quarter, then sealed the win with a layup with 44 seconds left in the game that gave Chicago a 97-88 lead.
“We’re playing more like a team and with more confidence,“ Nocioni told reporters. “I believe we’re starting to play like we play, move the ball, drive to the basket, take the open shot and play hard on defense. This is how we need to play.“
Nocioni went seven of 14 from the field, including two three-pointers and sank six of seven free throws.
“When it came down to it, we couldn’t guard Nocioni,“ Pistons coach Flip Saunders told reporters.
“We tried to stay big and he either took threes or drove around us. We just couldn’t contain him at all.“
Chauncey Billups kept Detroit in the game with 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter.
He pulled the Pistons within three points at 86-83 on a layup with 2:58 remaining before Luol Deng’s jumper and Chris Duhon’s three-pointer put Chicago ahead 91-83.

Baseball home-run king Barry Bonds (l) arrives with his wife, Liz, at a federal court house in San Francisco, California, Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, Dec. 8--Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball’s all-time home-run king, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges that he lied to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied use of performance-enhancing drugs.
According to Reuters, dressed in a dark blue suit for his first court appearance since being indicted, the controversial 43-year-old slugger had his lawyer tell a judge in US District Court in San Francisco he was innocent of four counts of perjury and one of obstruction.
The court set bail at $500,000 and a February 7 date for the next hearing in the case. He had reported to authorities for processing on Thursday, his lawyers said.
According to the federal indictment, Bonds lied when he told a grand jury in 2003 that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. That investigation led to the imprisonment of Bonds’ personal trainer as well the head of BALCO, the laboratory south of San Francisco where Bonds had occasionally undergone blood and urine testing.
Bonds smiled as he arrived and was surrounded by an expanded group of prominent San Francisco attorneys that one top court official called a “dream team,“ with each earning about $400 an hour. In response to questions from the judge, the most famous player of his generation identified himself and his age as “Barry Bonds, 43“ and in court only said “Yes“ and “Yes, I do.“

BIRMINGHAM, UK, Dec. 8--The UK Championships and Olympic trials will return to Birmingham in 2008 after four years in Manchester.
The trials will take place at Alexander Stadium on 11-13 July, a week before the squad for the Beijing Olympics is announced, BBC wrote.
“We are delighted to be bringing the trials back to Birmingham,“ said UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos.
“It’s ideally placed to ensure as many athletes as possible can compete and the public can see a great event.“

LONDON, Dec. 8--John McEnroe plans to play at London’s Royal Albert Hall for at least one more year despite Friday’s quarterfinal defeat by Paul Haarhuis.
According to BBC, Haarhuis won 6-2 6-3 to reach the BlackRock Masters Tennis semifinals.
Asked if it was his final appearance at the event, McEnroe, 48, said: “Could be. I’m not getting any younger.“
But he later said: “I’m definitely not going to say that I won’t be here next year because I think I can at least play one more and then we’ll see.“
The American, who has won the Albert Hall tournament four times, added: “I’m going to pick and choose my events next year.
“If I can get the balance right between rest in-between events, staying in shape and playing, I think I can still beat anyone out there.
“It’s definitely not getting any easier, but that’s the challenge.
That’s what keeps it interesting.“
Haarhuis goes on to face Sergi Bruguera, who defeated Jeremy Bates 6-3 6-4.
In Friday’s other quarter-finals, Guy Forget upset Greg Rusedski 2-6 7-5 13-11 and Cedric Pioline beat Wayne Ferreira 6-3 6-4.
“When you play someone who serves so well on such a fast surface in the end it’s just a matter of heads or tails, and I was lucky enough to win,“ said 2003 champion Forget.

MADRID, Spain, Dec. 8--Atletico Madrid’s Argentine striker Sergio Aguero has been awarded the “golden boy“ prize for the best Under-21 player in Europe by Italian sports magazine Tuttosport.
The 19-year-old, who led Argentina to victory in the Under-20 World Cup in Canada this year and has been in scintillating form for Atletico this season, follows Cesc Fabregas, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney as the winner of the award.

BOSTON, USA, Dec. 8--Veteran pitcher Mike Timlin will stay with World Series champion Boston for at least one more season after accepting a new contract, the Red Sox said on Friday.
The right-hander, who in August became the 13th pitcher to appear in 1,000 major league games, has agreed a one-year deal estimated by local media to be worth $3 million, Reuters wrote.
Timlin has gone 71-69 with 140 saves and a 3.55 ERA in 1,011 career games. He ranks second in Red Sox history with 347 relief appearances.
Despite being hampered by injuries, he went 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA and one save in 50 games last season.
Timlin was on the disabled list from the start of the season until April 10 with a muscle strain before being sidelined again from May 3 to June 9 with right shoulder tendonitis.
He recovered to post a 2.09 ERA in his final 34 games including a career-best 16-inning scoreless streak. In six post-season games he had a 3.17 ERA.

David Legwand

NEW YORK, Dec. 8--The Nashville Predators have signed center David Legwand to a six-year, $27 million contract extension, the NHL team said Friday.
According to Reuters, Legwand, 27, is the all-time leader for the Predators in goals (113), points (304) and game-winning goals (28).
“David Legwand continues to improve and take on a larger role each season,“ Predators general manager David Poile said in a statement. “He is entering the prime of his career and we feel that he is becoming one of the league’s most complete players.
“This is the first step moving forward under new ownership and is a sign of commitment, a desire to win and a desire to keep the core of our young team together in Nashville.“
The first draft pick in the franchise’s history, Legwand has registered seven goals and 14 assists in 26 games for the Predators this season, his ninth with the club.
Since his selection as second overall draft pick in 1998, he has recorded 113 goals and 191 assists for Nashville in 510 career games.

BERLIN, Dec. 8-- Borussia Dortmund crushed Arminia Bielefeld 6-1 in the Westphalia derby after running riot with four second-half goals in the Bundesliga on Friday.
According to Reuters, Dortmund, fresh from a 2-1 win over champions VfB Stuttgart last weekend, took a 2-0 lead before the break with Tinga’s early strike and an own-goal by Markus Schuler.
Mladen Petric headed his eighth goal of the season from a Dede cross to make it 3-0 two minutes into the second period.
Nelson Valdez converted a penalty for the fourth goal before Florian Kringe slotted home right-footed from a Petric pass and Giovanni Federico made it 6-0 in the 67th minute.
Oliver Kirch’s reply for Bielefeld in the 81st minute will have come as no consolation at all.
The result took Dortmund up to ninth with 21 points from 16 matches. Bielefeld are 14th with 15 points.

Anderlecht's Bart Goor (r) and Tottenham's Lee Young-Pyo (l) fight for the ball in the UEFA Championship in Brussels on Thursday.

PARIS, Dec. 8-- Anderlecht face a fine or possible expulsion from the UEFA Cup after European football’s governing body announced Friday it was investigating Thursday’s controversial tie with Spurs.
According to AFP, the Group G game in Brussels was marred by missiles thrown onto the pitch around the Spurs goalmouth with one object hitting Spurs defender Didier Zokora on the head.
A UEFA match official was seen after the game, which ended 1-1, picking up cigarette lighters and an iron bar that had rained down onto the pitch towards the end of the game.
UEFA in a statement confirmed: “UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against RSC Anderlecht for the throwing of objects by spectators at UEFA Cup Group G match against Tottenham Hotspur FC in Brussels on Thursday.
“The case will be heard by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Committee on Thursday 13 December.“
After the game Zokora, who used to play with Belgian first division side Genk, when asked about the missile thrown at him, said: “I played four years in Belgium so maybe they hate me.“
Spurs assistant boss Gus Poyet said: “I think it’s not good for Anderlecht. It’s nothing to do with Anderlecht, there are always a few people.“