Iran's Milad Meidavoudi (l) vies with Hansa Rostok's player during their match at the Azadi Stadium on Saturday.

TEHRAN, Jan. 5--Iran’s National Football Team was beaten 2-0 by the German club Hansa Rostok at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Saturday.
This is while the football federation has a vacuum at the top and Portuguese Artur Jorge as head coach has yet to pen his contract, Mehr News Agency reported.
Tobias Rathgeb led Hansa Rostok within 36 minutes and Djordjije Cetkovic netted the second goal in the 64th minute.
Mansour Ebrahim-Zadeh headed the team in the match while Hossein Kaebi was named as one of the youngest captains in the national team’s history.
The players, officials and supporters of Iran and Hansa Rostok paid tribute to Aidin Nikkhah-Bahrami, the basketball player who died in a car accident last week, with a minute’s silence before their match.
Iran will play against Qatar on Wednesday as the second warm-up game, ahead of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

TEHRAN, Jan. 5--Iran’ Football Federation is interested in hosting the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup.
“FIFA has invited the world powerhouses to host the championship in 2012 via letters. Iran’s Futsal Committee will not miss the chance easily,“ IRNA quoted Abbas Torabian, head of the committee, as saying.
Noting that FIFA will announce the host country on May 9, 2008, he added that Iran has a great chance to host if it provides the needed facilities.
According to FIFA’s rules, the host country has to have three to six well-organized large public halls.
“Hopefully, sport officials will help the futsal committee host the most important futsal event in the world,“ he said.
FIFA has sent letters to Iran and Japan as the best teams of Asia.

TEHRAN, Jan. 5--No decision has yet been made on Iran’s new national football team coach, one of the two main candidates for the post of Iranian Football Federation’s (FFI) presidency said Friday.
Sahahrokh Shahnazi told the website of the state television network IRIB that all candidates would be once again evaluated this week for the head coach post.
Shahnazi was referring to reports that Portuguese coach Artur Jorge, together with two foreign assistants and one German-based Iranian assistant coach, have already been named for the job.
Due to differences with football’s ruling body FIFA over governmental interference in football affairs, the FFI has had no president since last year and been run by a transitional committee until elections on January 9.
Shahnazi said that the transitional committee has just introduced Jorge and his assistants to the new FFI presidential board which is to be elected under FIFA supervision on January 9.
“Jorge is just an option among other options and nothing has been finalized yet. If I was elected as FFI president, I would evaluate his case just like the other options,“ Shahnazi said.
The other options are French coach Jacques Santini and German Peter Neururer, but Jorge is said to have demanded much less in salary than the other two and therefore has better chances of being appointed.
FFI spokesman Ali Reqbati said an initial arrangement was made last week by the transitional committee, with Jorge adding that as FFI elections would be held next week, the deal should be finalized by the new FFI president and board members.
Jorge was in Tehran last week and held initial talks with the transitional committee, but the two main candidates for the FFI presidency asked for the deal not to be finalized until after the January 9 elections.
The two main candidates, Shahnazi, head of the country’s tennis federation, and Ali Kafashian, secretary general of Iran’s Olympic Committee, insisted that selecting the new coach should be the job of the new FFI president.

TEHRAN, Jan. 5--Iran’s National Handball Team will participate in a training camp to be held in Tunis late January.
The camp is scheduled ahead of the 13th Asian Nations Handball Cup and the 2008 World Cup qualifiers to be held in Isfahan province, Mehr News Agency reported.
The team is to leave for Tunis on January 23 after the end of the National Handball Premier League’s 15th week.
Upon their return to Tehran, the team will also hold a two-week training camp in Isfahan until the beginning of the World Cup qualifiers on February 16.
Eight countries, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Iran, have announced their readiness to take part in Asian handball competitions.

ARAK, Markazi, Jan. 5ÑKhuzestan’s team clinched Iran’s Weightlifting Championship at Arak’s 5 Mordad Gymnasium late Friday.
The four-day competitions were held with 188 participants and Khuzestan’s team won the championship, collecting 179 points while Bushehr and Isfahan ranked second and third respectively.
According to Mehr News Agency, both Bushehr and Isfahan chalked up 162 points, but Bushehr was placed higher stand because of bagging more gold medals.

TEHRAN, Jan. 5--International Golf Federation handed over Iran’s Golf Federation a cash prize of £10,000 in 2007.
“We are content to see Iran’s progress. The federation has learnt that many people in the country, including students, got acquainted with the sport last year. Iran has participated in the Nomura Cup for the first time. So, the federation’s Center for Promoting Golf has awarded Iran’s federation a cash prize of £10,000,“ the center said in a message faxed to Iran’s Golf Federation.
About 14,000 people have learnt golf in the country in the past three years.

ROME, Jan. 5--World champions Ferrari will jump the gun on their rivals Sunday by launching their new 2008 car here at Maranello.
According to AFP, McLaren, whose two drivers last year missed out on the title each by a single point, will follow suit on Monday at the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart.
But it is the number one car of drivers’ champion Kimi Raikkonen that will catch the most attention on Sunday before it is put through its paces on Monday at the nearby Fiorano test track.
Raikkonen will start the season in Ferrari’s 2008 version with praise from out-going team boss Jean Todt ringing in his ears. Todt is taking over as CEO of the whole Ferrari group and his role at the F1 team will be taken on by Stefano Domenicali.
When asked who he would prefer to have in his team between Raikkonen and former double world champion Fernando Alonso, Todt told Auto Motor Und sport magazine that Kimi was his man.
“Kimi has ranked for five or six years as one of the best drivers. Therefore, I never understood the people who were disappointed by his achievements in the first half of the season,“ he said.
Raikkonen often looked on the brink of falling out of last season’s title race after a difficult start saw him trail far behind McLaren pair Alonso and British rookie Lewis Hamilton. But in a dramatic finale Raikkonen pipped them both to the title on the last day of the championship season in Brazil.
Ferrari claimed both the driver and constructor titles last season after McLaren were found guilty of spying on their major rivals and were hit with a 100 million dollar fine. They were also stripped of all their constructor points.

TEHRAN, Jan. 5--Sepahan has been banned from playing its home matches in Isfahan indefinitely, after a security officer lost his eyesight due to fireworks being thrown at him by Sepahan fans in their last home match, reported ISP.
The security officer was injured in the top of the table clash between Sepahan and Persepolis, which was played in Isfahan last week. He lost his eye sights permanently.
The disciplinary committee of the Iranian Football Federation has vowed to punish Sepahan severely, and on Friday banned all upcoming Sepahan home games in the province of Isfahan until they review the incident in their next meeting.
While the ban appears to be severe, it won’t come in to effect since Sepahan are currently having their mid-season break and the disciplinary committee is expected to announce their final verdict before the start of the second half of the season.
Sepahan are currently second in the league, with 34 points from 17 games, 2 points behind Perspolis.

Scottie Pippen

HELSINKI, Finland, Jan. 5--Former All-Star Scottie Pippen said on Friday he would love to return to the NBA as a coach. “My playing days are pretty much over, I’ve put my time in,“ Pippen, 32, told a news conference.
“I’ve walked away from a few assistant jobs, but they just haven’t been the right situation for me. I hope to some day get back in the game.“
When asked about head coaching, Pippen said “That would always be nice. It would be nice to start at the top...I am willing to do whatever it takes, but some day, yes, I would like to be a head coach.“
Pippen added of his long-time team, the Chicago Bulls, who fired their coach last month: “I’ve shown some interest. I just have to wait and see,“ he told Reuters.
Pippen was in Finland to play two games for Helsinki club Torpan Pojat and a third one in Sweden. He scored 12 points and had seven rebounds in 23 minutes, as his team beat Porvoo 93-81.
He said he had not played much since his retirement more than three years ago: “I played with my seven, five and two-year old kids in the backyard--I haven’t played any competitive ball since I retired.“

David Beckham

LONDON, Jan. 5--Wearing an Arsenal tracksuit with No. 23 on his chest, David Beckham joined the Gunners for training on Friday.
The Los Angeles Galaxy need not worry, however, as its star player has no plans to play competitively for Arsenal, Canadian Press wrote.
He’s only at the club’s training headquarters to get in shape to play for England and for the March start of the new season for Major League Soccer.
England has a friendly against Switzerland at Wembley on Feb. 6. Because MLS teams are idle until the season kicks off, Beckham has returned to his home north of London to train with the Gunners.
“He wants to be fit when he’s moving to LA in February so, in January, we give him assistance to work on his fitness,“ said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who smiled when asked why Beckham was wearing Arsenal practice gear.
“You have to put some kit on,“ Wenger said.
A former England captain who has made 99 appearances for his country, Beckham is hoping that new national team manager Fabio Capello will select him against the Swiss to reach the milestone of 100.

ROME, Jan. 5--Juventus President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has admitted that the club are observing Rafael Van der Vaart, Tomas Ujfalusi and Olof Mellberg.
The two departments that the Bianconeri are in most need of strengthening are the defence and the midfield.
According to Goal, Hamburg playmaker Van der Vaart has been heavily associated with a move to Turin in recent weeks and indeed the player himself has said he would be interested in such a transfer.
“Van der Vaart is one of many players that we are observing,“ Gigli told the Gazzetta dello Sport. “We like him very much but at the moment we prefer to sign players who cost nothing.“
Two players whose contracts run out at the end of the season are Fiorentina’s Tomas Ujfalusi and Aston Villa’s Olof Mellberg.
“Ranieri is satisfied with the squad to which we will add a couple to play in Europe,“ continued Gigli. “At the moment we are focused on signing players who will be free agents.
We need a few more players who are available for a free transfer. Mellberg, Ujfalusi? We are following them but they are not the only players we are interested in.“

SYDNEY, Australia, Jan. 5--India spinner Harbhajan Singh faces a charge of racially abusing Australian player Andrew Symonds on day three of the second Test against Australia, reported Reuters.
The charge was laid by the match umpires following a complaint from Australia captain Ricky Ponting during India’s first innings in Sydney. If found guilty, Harbhajan could face a ban of between two and four Test games or between four and eight one-dayers.
Harbhajan’s hearing will take place after the fourth day’s play finishes.
“I did not say anything racist,“ he told Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
“I do not know what is going on. I haven’t done anything, we were just talking. It wasn’t even sledging, it was just normal talk out on the cricket field. I was concentrating on my batting.“
The alleged offence falls under section 3.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct which refers to players or team officials “using language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, gender, color, descent, or national or ethic origin“.