TEHRAN, Dec. 22--Iran’s National Football Team is set to play against Bahrain on March 19, 2008, in Manama.
Iran will attend its first 2010 FIFA qualification match against Syria on February 6, 2008, ISNA reported.
The team will participate in the preparatory camp on March 12 ahead of the second match against Kuwait on March 25.
Iran will play against Bahrain during the training camp.
Warm-up matches against Mali, Hansa Rostock and Costa Rica have also been scheduled prior to the FIFA qualification matches.

Arthur Jorge

TEHRAN, Dec. 22--Former head coach of Portugal’s team is top candidate for managing Iran’s National Football Team.
French Jacques Santini and Arthur Jorge have been considered by Iran’s transitional board to lead the team, but the Portuguese has a greater chance of getting the job, Mehr News Agency reported.
“We will make the final decision about Iran’s next coach in the meeting on Sunday,“ Mehdi Khabiri, a board member, said in a statement.
Heshmat Mohajerani, Iran’s ex-coach whose name has figured as manager, has already announced that the head coach will be either Santini or Jorge.
Iran will participate in the 2010 World Cup qualifications in February 2008.
The team has drawn with UAE, Kuwait and Syria in Group F.

TEHRAN, Dec. 22--Tehran’s Esteqlal football team will attend a training camp in UAE on December 25.
According to Mehr News Agency, the 12-day preparatory camp will be held during Iran’s Professional League’s (IPL) winter break.
The Blues will play a warm-up game against the UAE club Al Wasl on December 31.
Esteqlal officials are also holding talks to schedule two other friendly games during the camp.
Esteqlal has collected 23 points and ranks 8th in the IPL table.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Dec. 22--A 12-member jury has convicted the nephew of former world heavyweight boxing champion Trevor Berbick for his killing in Jamaica 14 months ago.
According to Reuters, Harold Berbick, 21, was found guilty on Thursday of murdering his uncle and will be sentenced on January 11. He faces a possible death sentence.
Another man, 19-year-old Kenton Gordon, was charged as an accomplice and found guilty of manslaughter. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Berbick, 54, who was found dead in a church yard in the eastern parish of Portland on October 28, 2006, won the world heavyweight title in 1985 after defeating Pinklon Thomas of the United States for the World Boxing Council title.
He lost the belt the following year to Mike Tyson.
Berbick, who returned to Jamaica in 2004 after being deported from the United States and Canada, had a history of family feuds and was acquitted of wounding a family member months before he was murdered.
Berbick was the last man to beat the legendary Muhammad Ali, doing so in a bout in the Bahamas in 1981.

MILAN, Italy, Dec. 22--Italian number one Potito Starace and countryman Daniele Bracciali have both been suspended for betting on matches. According to BBC, Starace, ranked 31 in the world, was banned for six weeks from 1 January and fined £21,400 by the sport’s governing body for making five bets in 2005.
Bracciali, ranked 258, was banned for three months and fined £14,300 for making around 50 five-euro bets.
Italian Alessio Di Mauro was banned for nine months in November, the first player caught in a betting crackdown.
He has said he would appeal against his ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
However, the Italian Tennis Federation has complained that the Association of Tennis Professionals was making scapegoats of its three players.
“The penalties are out of proportion with the size of infringements committed by the two players,“ said a spokesman. “Obviously, neither player betted on their own matches.“
And Bracciali, 29, claims he and Starace have been hung out to dry because they are not big names.
“We were the sacrificial lambs. That is why they have got upset with us,“ he said. “We are not champions and we are not important at a high level. But I cannot believe that we Italians were the only ones that placed the odd little bet.

ST ANTON, Austria, Dec. 22--America’s Lindsey Vonn overcame a nerve-jangling start to clinch her second downhill win of the season, taking top spot in an all-North American podium finish.
Vonn, who raced as Lindsey Kildow before getting married in September, skied wide of the marked piste on the upper section of the challenging Karl Schranz course but recovered to finish with a time of 1:32.00, Reuters said.
Canada’s Kelly Vanderbeek came in second, 0.36 seconds behind Vonn, after also suffering a scare. After misjudging a jump, she was nearly thrown backwards off her skis.
Vonn’s US team mate Julia Mancuso looked on course for victory but dropped back to third place, a further 0.02 seconds back, after almost having her left ski ripped off in a rut on the course’s final section.
“I made such a crazy mistake at the start, there was no way I thought I could still win the race,“ said Vonn after going on to celebrate the ninth World Cup victory of her career.
“After that I just went all out and tried to keep my cool.“
Sweden’s Anja Paerson pulled out midway through her run, allowing Austria’s Nicole Hosp to return to the top of the overall standings.
Paerson later told reporters she had felt a pain in her knee but that it had passed by the time she reached the bottom of the hill.

FUENTERRABIA, Spain, Dec. 22--Jose Maria Olazabal hopes to return to action late next month after four months out with a form of rheumatism.
The Spaniard, 41, only started hitting balls again this week after suffering problems in his shoulders and groin, BBC reported.
“I was worried I was going to be out for a long time again, because of the amount of pain,“ said Olazabal, who endured 18 months out in the mid-1990s.
“But according to my doctor, in six weeks or so I should be able to start practising pretty much normally again.“
Olazabal will be in Louisville for the defense of the Ryder Cup next year as assistant to European captain Nick Faldo.
He has not given up hope of playing in the event, despite admitting he faces a tough battle given his lack of qualifying points.
“I have lost a lot of ground - and being realistic I won’t have played for five months; whenever I start, maybe Dubai, I think it’s going to be a slow start,“ he added.
“That’s going to make it very difficult, but I’ve not given up hope. Hope is the last thing you should lose.
“It’s tough watching. But it’s not a decision I took - I was forced. It would have been different if I had said I had had enough.“

South African Oscar Pistorius competes in the men's 400m race B during the Athletics IAAF Golden Gala at Rome's Olympic Stadium, July 2007.

PRETORIA,
South Africa,
Dec. 22--Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius appears likely to fail in his bid to compete at next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
According to BBC, the 400m star has had scientific analysis of his prosthetic limbs to see if they give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied opponents.
Professor Peter Bruggemann observed the tests and told Die Welt newspaper the runner has a “considerable advantage“.
Athletics governing body, the IAAF, does not plan to make any announcement over the issue until 10 January.
The IAAF received Bruggemann’s report this week following the tests at the German Sport University in Cologne.
“He has a considerable advantage compared with athletes without prosthetic limbs who have undergone the same tests,“ added Bruggemann.
“The difference is several percentage points and I did not think the findings would be so conclusive.“
South African Pistorius had both legs amputated below the knee as a child and runs on carbon fiber blades and has lowered the Paralympic 400m world mark to 46.56 seconds.
He won a gold and bronze at the 2004 Athens Paralympics but his dreams of competing in next year’s Beijing Olympics hinge on the IAAF giving him the all-clear to race against able-bodied opponents.

MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec. 22-- Australian Open organizers have introduced anti-corruption measures including fines, bans and jail terms for any players found to be involved in match-fixing at next year’s opening grand slam.
While there has been no proof of any wrongdoing, the sport has been rife with rumors of match-fixing this year, with several players saying they had been approached to throw matches, Reuters said.
Russian player Nikolay Davydenko is facing an investigation over irregular betting patterns on one of his matches in August.
“We don’t believe our sport has a corruption problem but we do recognize that a threat to the integrity of tennis exists,“ Tennis Australia (TA) chief executive Steve Wood told reporters on Friday.
“Betting is a reality in all sports. But we want to have some vigilance over illegal gambling.“
Wood said TA would establish an anti-corruption unit, which will be headed by former police officers, introduce a match-fixing hotline, ban the use of laptop computers courtside and increase security measures restricting access to players.
Wood said strict sanctions would apply for players and their support staff for breaches of the policy, ranging from fines to life bans, while those involved in match-fixing could also face prison terms.
Wood said the measures were just for the Australian Open but he expected the sport to produce a co-ordinated policy towards match-fixing next year.
“This is an interim protection measure for the Australian Open while globally our sport completes a comprehensive and independent analysis of the overall threat to the integrity of tennis,“ he added.

Edwin van der Sar

MANCHESTER, England, Dec. 22-- Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has agreed a new 12-month contract to stay at Old Trafford next season.
“Van der Sar has signed a new contract for another year. He will be here as a player next year,“ manager Alex Ferguson told reporters on Friday.
“We are pleased with that because his consistency and experience has been a great help to this club.“
According to Reuters, the former Ajax and Juventus goalkeeper joined United from Fulham in June, 2005 and helped United regain the English premier league title last season.
Van der Sar, 37, recently announced that he plans to retire from international football after playing for the Netherlands in the 2008 European Championship finals.
But he is evidently keen to prolong his club career, with Ferguson welcoming the competition he will have for the goalkeeping position next season when the highly-rated Ben Foster will also be fit following a long-term knee injury. “I am sure he (Van der Sar) will want to be number one and I am sure Ben Foster will give him a good challenge,“ Ferguson said.
Ferguson also confirmed that United plan to talk to France international defender Patrice Evra about a contract extension but said Wes Brown had still not agreed terms for a new deal.

NEW YORK,
Dec. 22--Jochen Hecht snapped a third period tie to give the Buffalo Sabres their fifth successive win with a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.
The Flyers have now lost five games in a row, Reuters said.
Ales Kotalik drew the Sabres even with Philadelphia on a power play at 4:30 of the third period before Hecht delivered the game winner almost 13 minutes later.
Drew Stafford put Buffalo in front with a first-period goal, before Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers at 2:13 of the second to level the scoring.
Joffrey Lupul then put Philadelphia ahead on a power-play 45 seconds later.
Sabres netminder Ryan Miller made 20 saves for the victory.
Former Sabres standout Daniel Briere played for the first time in Buffalo since signing a long-term contract with Philadelphia in the off season. He failed to score a point.
The New York Islanders scored twice in 37 seconds in the third period to record a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Blake Comeau scored his first NHL goal to put the Islanders ahead at 10:28 of the third while Trent Hunter wrapped up the victory with his goal less than 40 seconds later.