TEHRAN, Dec. 17--Iran’s cycling team will head for the Olympic qualifying games to be held in Los Angeles.
According to Mehr News Agency, the three-man team will first travel to Austria on January 5, 2008, for receiving the visa and attending a 10-day camp, prior to their participation in the Los Angeles qualifiers.
Iranian representatives will take part in 200 meters, Olympic sprint and keirin events.
Hassan Ali Varposhti, Mahmoud Parash and Hassan Farsi will be vying for track cycling’s World Cup.
Five Iranian cyclists have already qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the road class.
More than 400 athletes from 40 countries will participate in the three-day event in Los Angeles.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (r) plays during a visit to the national team practicing at the Azadi Stadium ahead of the 2006 world cup.

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged the head of Physical Education Organization to withdraw his candidacy for the Football Federation.
“I once told Mohammad Aliabadi to go to the Football Federation. His presence there could have improved the already-chaotic situation of the federation,“ Ahmadinejad said in a televised interview late on Sunday.
He said the FIFA should not have interfered in our football affairs, Mehr News Agency wrote.
President Ahmadinejad said the former management of the football federation had some problems with Aliabadi “and that’s why he decided to nominate himself for the leadership of football federation“.
Ahmadinejad said some opportunists are trying to misuse football to their own benefit.
“The reality is football plays a special role in people’s lives. People in fact love football,“ he said.
“Aliabadi’s candidacy is not against FIFA’s Articles of Association,“ he said, noting that he will look into the problems of the football federation in due time.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 17--The draw for the 2008 AFC Champions League at AFC House on Monday set up a number of interesting fixtures.
The draw includes a rematch between the 2007 runners-up Sepahan and Syrian side Al Ittihad who lost home and away to the Iranians in the year’s event.
According to Goal.com, Sepahan, who hammered Al Ittihad 5-0 in Aleppo and won 2-1 in Isfahan, were the first club to be drawn and placed in Group A along with tournament debutants Kuruvchi and a more illustrious Al Ittihad, in the shape of two-time AFC Champions League winners from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Iran champions Saipa were drawn in Group B alongside UAE double winners Al Wasl, who are currently coached by Brazilian Ze Mario, Al Kuwait Sports Club, and Iraq’s Al Quwa Al Jawiya, returning to the competition for the third time after taking part in the 2003 and 2004 events.

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--Former head coach of Iran’s national team says Esteqlal football team will bounce back soon.
“Things are not well with Esteqlal in Iran’s Professional League, but I’m sure the team can get good results in the Hazfi Cup. Esteqlal is a good and young team and plays beautifully and I believe the team deserves to be in a better position,“ Heshmat Mohajerani told Esteqlal’s website.
Urging fans to be patient, Mohaherani said football is erratic and Esteqlal will be back in the second half of the season.
Esteqlal is placed 8th in the 18-team table.

LONDON, Dec. 17--Chelsea were facing an anxious wait on Monday to discover the seriousness of an ankle injury that forced captain John Terry to limp out of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on crutches on Sunday.
The England captain had his right foot in a protective plastic cast, after Chelsea’s 16-match unbeaten run ended in a 1-0 defeat that left Arsenal a point clear at the top of the Premier League, Reuters wrote.
Terry has only recently recovered from a knee injury that kept him out for seven games and also forced him to miss the end of England’s unsuccessful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Chelsea were also waiting to hear whether former Arsenal defender Ashley Cole would face a charge from the Football Association after Monday’s newspapers printed photographs of him giving the V-sign to the home fans.
They had booed and jeered him loudly every time he touched the ball throughout the game which ended with him involved in an unseemly tangle with his former team mate Cesc Fabregas.
Arsenal could be without Ivory Coast midfielder Emmanuel Eboue for a spell after he was carried off the pitch with suspected knee ligament damage after a challenge from Joe Cole. It earned the England midfielder one of the 10 yellow cards handed out by referee Alan Wiley.
Terry had been caught by a late challenge from Eboue towards the end of the first half and losing him for the busy holiday period of matches would be a big blow to Chelsea’s title aspirations. They are already without leading scorer Didier Drogba following knee surgery.

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--International Basketball Federations Association has awarded Iranian basketball players a cash prize of $2,000 following their victory in the Second Asian Indoor Games, which was held in Macau.
Announcing this, Mahmoud Mashhoon, the head of Iranian Basketball Federation, also told IRNA that the basketball team will receive $50,000 for attending the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and faces no financial problems.
Mashhoon quoted FIBA administrator, Zoran Radovic, as saying that all the team’s expenses for attending the Diamond Ball 2008 Men’s Basketball Tournament in China has been paid by the event’s organizers.

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--Twenty-nine football players were invited to the training camp of women’s national team on Monday.
The one-week preparatory camp begins on December 21 ahead of the 2007 Asian Nations Cup, IRNA reported.
The camp will be headed by Saleheh Soufi as coach and Zahra Hosseini as bodybuilding trainer.
The women’s team has drawn against Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and Myanmar.

ZURICH, Switzerland, Dec. 17--Argentina will end 2007 as the world’s best-ranked team, following the publication of the latest FIFA standings for December.
According to AFP, With few international matches being played in the past month, the rankings have seen little change since November with the top 20 sides all remaining fixed.
Argentina lost just three of their 16 matches played this year with the most painful coming against Brazil in the final of the Copa America.
Despite that win, Brazil finished 21 points behind their South American rivals to take second place in the rankings -- which also take into account results from the previous three years.
World champions Italy are third, just four points behind Brazil, with a comfortable margin of 149 points separating them from fourth-placed Spain.

New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi (54), defensive back Eugene Wilson (top l) and linebacker Adalius Thomas (c) celebrate in the first quarter of their NFL game in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Sunday.

axBOSTON, USA,
Dec. 17-- The undefeated New England Patriots stayed on course for a perfect season by beating the New York Jets 20-10 on Sunday, while Miami snapped a 13-game, season-long losing streak with a dramatic overtime win over Baltimore.
According to Reuters, the Patriots (14-0) ground out the win without a touchdown pass from quarterback Tom Brady for the first time this season, clinching home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
“We expected a tough game. We understood what type of game it was going to be, and we just went out there and executed our game plan,“ Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs said.
New England are on course to become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go through the regular season without a defeat.
Battling gusting winds and driving rain, the Patriots took a 10-0 lead after Eugene Wilson’s five-yard interception return and a Stephen Gostkowski field goal.
The Jets (3-11) reduced the deficit when David Bowens returned a blocked New England punt, but the Patriots restored the 10-point cushion through Laurence Maroney’s one-yard touchdown run.
Mike Nugent kicked a fourth-quarter field goal to bring the Jets within a touchdown but Gostkowski capped the scoring with a 34-yard kick.
Maroney paced the ground game with 104 yards on 26 carries.
“We knew they were going to do a lot of movement, so it was basically just attack them,“ Maroney told reporters.

TORONTO, USA,
Dec. 17--The Boston Celtics eased to a ninth consecutive victory with a dominant 90-77 road win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Paul Pierce led the scoring with 18 points and Kevin Garnett added 16 as Boston improved their NBA-best record to 20-2 in bringing an end to the home team’s four-game winning streak, Reuters reported.
Four other Boston players reached double figures with Rajon Rondo scoring 14, Eddie House 11 and Tony Allen and James Posey 10 each.
Chris Bosh had 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Raptors experienced season lows for points, field goals and field-goal attempts against a tough Boston defense.
“It’s our philosophy that defense is going to win games for us, and we’re trying to have our defense fuel our offense,“ Garnett told reporters.
The Raptors made only 38.9 percent of their shots, slightly higher than their 36.7 percent effort against the same opponents last month.
“That’s going to be our staple pretty much all year long,“ Pierce told reporters when asked about the Celtics’ emphasis on defense.
“We take pride on the defensive end,“ he added. “Regardless of who’s out there, that’s going to be the make-up of our team.
“When teams think of the Boston Celtics, they’re going to think of a defensive-minded group.“

THOUSAND OAKS, USA,
Dec. 17--Tiger Woods has already established himself as arguably the greatest golfer in history, but he fervently hopes his legacy will focus instead on his contributions to society.
He created the Tiger Woods Foundation with his father Earl shortly after turning professional in 1996, paving the way for the first Tiger Woods Learning Center where children can develop life skills.
Around 16,000 students have gone through the center since it opened in Anaheim, California in February 2006 and Woods plans to open a second one in the Washington D.C. area within the next five years.
“Golf is something I do selfishly for myself,“ the American world number one told Reuters in an interview.
“I have a competitive side and that’s how I express it.
“But, as far as my tombstone is concerned, hopefully it will read something more of what I am trying to do for kids. That would be so much more ultimate than winning any golf tournament.
“The joy I get from winning a major championship doesn’t even compare to the feeling I get when a kid writes a letter saying: ’Thank you so much. You have changed my life.
“Or: ’I have turned my life around because of you. I was in a gang and now I’m not in a gang and now I’m going to college. No one in my family has ever gone to a college and now I’m the first one to do it.’ That, to me, is what it’s all about.“