TEHRAN, Jan. 12--Iran’s national soccer coach, Mansour Ebrahimzadeh, has announced that the friendly match between Iran and Tunisia has been called off, Press TV wrote.
“The match was due to be held on January 16 but it was canceled because of the ongoing intensive training on the Iranian side and the commencement of the Iranian premier league,“ Ebrahimzadeh said on Friday.
“The match was called off since the players have to play for their own teams in the premier league,“ he added. Iran’s national soccer team flew to Iran’s Persian Gulf Island of Kish Island on Friday, where they are scheduled to play against Mali on Sunday.

TEHRAN, Jan. 12--Iran’s international boxing team has managed to defeat Turkey 6-2 in a friendly match held on Friday in the Iranian capital Tehran.
According to Press TV, the match was held at the boxing hall of Tehran’s Shahid Shiroudi Stadium on Friday.
Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Tajikistan have participated in the tournament.
The Iranian boxing team is scheduled to fight their counterparts from Armenia on Sunday and Tajikistan on Tuesday.
According to the Secretary of the Boxing Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Fariborz Shams, boxers who were to take part in the qualifiers for the Beijing Olympics in Thailand attended the tournament.

Marion Jones

NEW YORK, Jan. 12--American Olympian Marion Jones has been sentenced to six months in prison for lying about steroid use and involvement in a drugs fraud case, AP wrote.
The former sprinter pleaded guilty last October and was sentenced on Friday. Mother-of-two Jones, 32, had asked US District Judge Kenneth Karas to be “as merciful as a human being can be“.
But the judge imposed the maximum under her plea deal “because of the need for general deterrence and the need to promote respect for the law“.
Judge Karas said he believed a message needed to be sent to athletes who have abused drugs and as a result, have overlooked the values of “hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship“.
“Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models. Nobody is above the legal obligation to tell the truth.“
Afterwards Jones said outside court: “I respect the judge’s order, and I truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes.“
Lawyers for the defence had asked the judge to give the former sprinter probation or house arrest. Having already apologized, retired and given up her five Olympic medals, Jones has been punished enough, they argued.
Jones sentencing included two years’ probation and supervised release, during which she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service. She has been ordered to surrender on 11 March to begin her jail term.

Nikolay Davydenko

MOSCOW, Jan. 12--Nikolay Davydenko claims he is being victimized by the ATP because they want him out of the world’s top 10.
The Russian’s defeat by Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello at the Sopot Open last August is being investigated by the governing body of men’s tennis.
He said: “Maybe they just found one tennis player who they want to remove from the world’s top 10? Maybe there is someone below me in the rankings who is more popular and they want to increase his popularity?“
He added: “Maybe I am just not that popular being number four in the world? Someone is trying to increase someone else’s popularity.“
But Etienne de Villiers, the chief executive of the ATP, described the Russian’s claims as “fanciful“.
“We are not investigating either player - we’ve never ever said this is about Davydenko or Arguello,“ De Villiers told BBC Sport. “We said this is about an irregular betting pattern and we need to get to the bottom of it.“
Gambling company Betfair voided all wagers on Davydenko’s second-round match against Arguello in Poland last August because of irregular betting patterns. The Russian was ranked four in the world as opposed to his opponent’s 87, yet his odds started to lengthen considerably after he won the
first set 6-2.
He lost the second set 6-3 and was trailing 2-1 in the third when he withdrew with a foot injury.
Nine Russian account holders with Betfair stood to make about £750,000 from an Arguello victory. Davydenko vigorously denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

Oscar Pistorius

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Jan. 12--Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius says he will appeal if the IAAF prevents him from competing in the Beijing Olympics.
The 21-year-old 400m sprinter has had scientific analysis of his prosthetic limbs to see if they give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied opponents, AFP said.
And governing body, the IAAF, will announce on Monday its decision as to whether he can compete in Beijing.
“I feel that it is my responsibility, on behalf of other disabled athletes, to stand firm,“ said the South African. “We can not allow one organisation to inhibit our ability to compete using the very tools without which we simply cannot walk, let alone run. I will not stand down.“
The federation is widely expected to rule that Pistorius is ineligible because he gets a mechanical advantage from his racing blades. German professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who conducted tests on the prosthetic limbs, said they give him a clear edge over able-bodied runners.

WELLINGTON,
New Zealand, Jan. 12--Fast bowler Chris Martin took five for 65 as New Zealand dismissed Bangladesh for 143 then reached 134-3 after day one of the second Test in Wellington, Reuters said.
New Zealand were 35-2 before Stephen Fleming and opener Craig Cumming joined in an 83-run third wicket partnership which restored their authority. Cumming was out for 42 but Fleming held the innings together and was 39 not out at the close of play. It was Martin’s eighth five-wicket haul for New Zealand.
Vettori won the toss Saturday and sent Bangladesh in to bat, as he did in the first test at Dunedin when New Zealand hurried the tourists out for 137 and went on to win by nine wickets.
Charged by Martin’s performance, New Zealand took only 45.3 overs to wreck Bangladesh’s first innings and take charge of a match being played on a evenly-paced, even docile batting wicket.
Of the Bangladesh batsmen, only Aftab Ahmed, who batted 108 minutes and was not out 25, dedicated himself to crease occupation.
Others couldn’t restrain themselves from playing shots and Bangladesh’s innings included 18 fours and two sixes or 84 runs from boundaries.

ATLANTA, USA,
Jan. 12--For the first time since 1982, the NBA is sending two teams back to the court for a do-over.
The Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat must replay the final 51.9 seconds of their game last month because the official scorer ruled incorrectly that Shaquille O’Neal fouled out, the league said Friday.
The Hawks won 117-111 at home in overtime Dec. 19, but strike that one from the books. For now, playoff-contending Atlanta has one less win, while the Heat have one less loss on their hapless record.
“We’re human. We make mistakes,“ Hawks owner Michael Gearon Jr. told AP. “There certainly wasn’t anything malicious about it. We have one of the most senior scoring staffs in the league. They’re good. It happened. There’s not much we can do about it.“
Making it a truly miserable day: Atlanta followed up NBA commissioner David Stern’s decision by losing to Washington 102-98 in overtime.
The NBA said the replay will be held before Miami’s next visit to Atlanta on March 8. Play will start from the time after O’Neal’s disputed sixth foul, with the Hawks leading 114-111.
“Wait a minute! I picked up a win today, or lost a loss,“ Heat coach Pat Riley quipped in New Orleans before a 114-88 loss to the Hornets. “I can wake up tomorrow knowing there’s one less loss.“
The Hawks also were fined $50,000, with Stern ruling the team was “grossly negligent“ in failing to address the mistake.
The protest is the first granted by the NBA since December 1982, when then-NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien upheld a request for a replay by the San Antonio Spurs after their 137-132 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers the previous month.
The Spurs and Lakers finally finished the game in April 1983, with San Antonio winning 117-114.

NEW YORK, Jan. 12--Major League Baseball launched a department of investigations Friday, a permanent branch of the commissioner’s office.
In his report last month on drug use in baseball, George Mitchell had recommended the formation of the unit. Adopting another of Mitchell’s recommendations, MLB is establishing a tip line for team employees to make the commissioner’s office aware of violations of drug, betting and other rules.
“The department of investigations will have critically important responsibilities in protecting the integrity of our sport,“ commissioner Bud Selig told AP.
Dan Mullin, a former New York City Police Officer who had been in baseball’s senior director of security operations, was appointed vice president and head of the unit. George Hanna, a former FBI employee currently in baseball’s security department, was appointed senior director of investigations.
MLB said the unit “will have broad authority to conduct investigations.“ The limits of the unit were not immediately clear. Will it become a spy unit that places moles in clubhouses? Will it secretly tail players away from ballparks?
Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said the department “will be given the freedom to do what is appropriate in the context of acceptable and customary investigative and business practices.“
Mullin was not available for comment, baseball spokesman Rich Levin said.

TEHRAN, Jan. 12--Iran’s 26th Int’l Fajr Film Festival will screen ’Maradona, the Hand of God’, a movie about the football legend’s never heard stories.
According to Presstv, the movie, which is about the renowned Argentinean footballer, Diego Maradona, tells a story the director says has never been heard about the soccer legend. The film screens Maradona as a boy who once fell into a well while playing football and was pulled out by his mop of curly black hair.
Marco Risi, the Italian director expresses unabashed admiration for the Argentine idol, who, since retiring form the game in 1997, has battled with cocaine addiction and weight problems, but is now slimmer after a stomach-stapling operation and no longer addicted to drugs.
Marco Leonardi plays the role of Diego Armando Maradona in the film and is accompanied by Julieta Diaz as Claudia Villafane and Juan Leyrado as Guillermo Coppola in the film.

KOOYONG, Australia, Jan. 12--Andy Roddick warmed up for next week’s Australian Open with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Marcos Baghdatis to win his third straight Kooyong Classic title, AFP said.
He outgunned Baghdatis in 76 minutes to emulate compatriot Michael Chang, who won the exhibition event from 1995-97. Both players were solid on serve early on, but Baghdatis had a break point to lead 5-4 only for Roddick to dig himself out of trouble with a strong second serve.
The first set looked to be heading for a tiebreak only for the Cypriot to slip up in the 12th game, handing Roddick the set.
An early break in the second set put Roddick in control and once he had saved three break points in the seventh game, he eased to victory, sealing the win with his 10th ace. Baghdatis, a late replacement for Roger Federer, who had a stomach virus, said his form was not at the level it was when he reached the 2006 Australian Open final.Roddick begins against a qualifier at Melbourne Park, while Baghdatis plays former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson.