TEHRAN, Feb. 3--Second International Ski Alpine Competition and Fifth Fajr International Skiing Competition will begin here on Monday in Dizin Ski Resort.
Five teams from Armenia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, India and Bulgaria, are taking part in the event, IRNA said.
The three-day tourney will be held in three categories with 13 domestic clubs participating.
Technical representative of the International Ski Federation will supervise the event.

TEHRAN, Feb. 3--Iran’s newly-appointed football coach Javier Clemente said that the team is the best in Asia. Speaking to reporters on arrival at Imam Khomeini International Airport late Saturday, he said: “I have come to Tehran to know more about your country and evaluate the facilities. I am so grateful for your hospitality.“ Clemente said that he is looking forward to good days in Iran, Mehr News Agency reported. He said, “I saw Iran’s football team’s performance in the 2006 World Cup the last time and want to watch more videos to get more information about your football.“
The Spaniard added that since his youth he has known Iran as the best Asian football team, while underlining that he should wait to see if it’s possible to make an evaluation or not. Clemente said that he would not head Iran against Syria in the 2010 World Cup qualifications on Wednesday as he had insufficient knowledge about the team. “We have a difficult task in the games because all teams want to qualify for the next round,“ he said. Clemente is yet to sign his contract but according to Ali Kaffashian, the head of Iran’s Football Federation, he will soon finalize it and officially be introduced to the team’s technical board and players. Iran has been drawn against Syria, UAE and Kuwait in Group E of the 2010 World Cup qualifications.

BIRMINGHAM, UK, Feb. 3--Dwain Chambers has raised the stakes in his dispute with UK Athletics (UKA) by easily qualifying for the UK trials for the World Indoor Championships.
Chambers, 29, won the 60m final at the Birmingham Games in 6.60 secs - a new meeting record - and was comfortably inside the 6.90 standard for Sheffield, BBC wrote.
UKA want to stop Chambers, who has served a two-year drugs ban, from challenging for a place in the GB team.
But the sprinter said: “I’m in good shape to do well at the World Indoors.“
Chambers was banned for two years in 2003 after testing positive for the designer drug THG and has not undergone an out-of-competition test since 2006.
UKA insist he must be regularly drug-tested over the next 12 months before they will consider him again for GB selection.
However, his lawyers, Ford and Warren, have made it clear if he is excluded from the trials they will take immediate legal action.
Chambers claimed it was UKA’s decision to take him off its drug-testing register.

TEHRAN, Feb. 3--Former skipper of Iran’s football team skipper is due in Switzerland to attend a conference of the world football governing body, FIFA.
Ali Daei will be in Lausanne for one day to attend FIFA’s international technical committee meeting on Sunday, Press TV wrote.
The former captain was named the world’s top goal scorer in official international competitions having scored 17 goals in 2004. He is now coaching Saipa Karaj Football Club.

MILWAUKEE, USA, Feb. 3--The second edition of Yao vs. Yi didn’t quite live up to its billing, as Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets beat Yi Jianlian and the Milwaukee Bucks 91-83 on Saturday despite relatively quiet nights by both of China’s biggest basketball exports, AP said.
Yao scored 12 points and added 12 rebounds for Houston, sitting for much of the first half after getting in early foul trouble and tweaking his ankle just before halftime.
Yi scored six points on miserable 1-for-10 shooting.
Tracy McGrady scored 33 to lead Houston, hitting several jumpers to hold off a late Bucks rally.
Australian Andrew Bogut added to the game’s international flavor with 21 points to lead Milwaukee, often getting the best of Yao on both ends of the court.
The Bucks kept it close deep into the fourth quarter, as Bogut had a chance for a three-point play after making a hook shot over Yao and getting fouled. The shot cut Houston’s lead to 78-74 with 2:54 remaining, but Bogut missed the free throw and McGrady hit a 19-foot jumper on the other end to put Houston ahead by seven.
McGrady then hit another long jumper to put Houston up 83-74 with 1:36 left. Milwaukee’s Bobby Simmons hit three 3-pointers in the final 44.5 seconds, but the Bucks’ rally fell short.
Milwaukee has lost three straight, including a 43-point loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday. Houston has won three straight.
Yao got off to a rough start, committing two early turnovers and heading to the bench after picking up his second foul with 5:23 left in the first quarter. He didn’t return until the 7:22 mark in the second quarter.

LONDON, feb. 3-- Emmanuel Adebayor’s two goals Saturday sent Arsenal to a 3-1 victory over Manchester City that moved it atop the Premier League standings two points ahead of Manchester United, which drew 1-1 at Tottenham.
According to AP, Adebayor struck in the ninth and 88th minutes at the City of Manchester Stadium and set up Eduardo da Silva’s 26th minute strike. Gelson Fernandes replied for City in the 28th.
Tottenham went ahead at White Hart Lane on a goal by Dimitar Berbatov in the 21st minute. But a late spell of strong United pressure, with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar joining his teammates in the Spurs area at a corner, ended with Carlos Tevez forcing the ball home with the final kick of the game.
Arsenal has 60 points from 25 games with 13 more to play. Third-place Chelsea slipped to six points off the lead after it was held to a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth. Although Nicolas Anelka gave the Blues a 55th minute lead, Jermain Defoe equalized nine minutes later.

Thomas Morgenstern of Austria jumps in the air during his first jump in the World Cup ski jumping competition at Sapporo's Okura Jumping Hill, on February 2.

SAPPORO, Japan, Feb. 3--World team champion Thomas Morgenstern of Austria posted his second win in two days with victory in the two-race Sapporo series of the World Cup ski jumping large hill competition on Sunday.
Janne Happonen of Finland, who was second on Saturday, took the same place again, followed by Anders Bardal of Norway in third, reported AFP.
The 21-year-old Morgenstern, who won the team gold and the individual normal hill bronze in the world championships here last year, recorded the longest jump of 139 meters for 288.7 points and victory.
“It feels great. I’m satisfied with my first jump despite strong winds,“ said Morgenstern, who marked 135m in the first jump. “I’m also satisfied with my second jump as it was close to the limit.“
It was the Austrian’s ninth World Cup win this season and the 10th in his career, including one team title last season.
Morgenstern stretched his lead in the overall rankings to 1,455 points, ahead of Janne Ahonen of Finland on 845 points, Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria on 839 points, and Tom Hilde of Norway on 825 points.
Happonen, also the runner-up in the opener at Kuusamo in December, jumped 134 meters for 272.5 points, while Bardal marked 131.5 meters for 264.3 points. It was the 19th leg of the 28-round World Cup series.

SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 3--Football Federation Australia says it is conducting a major audit of national infrastructure in its efforts to launch a formal bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, reports said Sunday.
According to AFP, Australia wants to host the tournament after South Africa (2010) and Brazil (2014), amid interest from China, England, a joint bid by Belgium and the Netherlands, Mexico, Russia, Uruguay and Argentina. The winner will be announced in 2011.
“We are serious about bidding for 2018 and are currently conducting a major audit of the infrastructure within Australia,“ FFA chief executive Ben Buckley told Sydney’s The Sun-Herald newspaper.
He said the FFA has commissioned a consulting firm to deliver a report by April outlining to what extent Australian facilities meet FIFA requirements for hosting the world’s biggest single sporting event.
“We are also looking at everything from the number of training venues to accommodation in each potential host location, to transport issues and the public infrastructure that needs to be in place,“ Buckley said.
“I think we have as good a chance as anyone who is in the running, and we have made it known to FIFA that we have an ambition to host it. We have certainly had nothing but encouragement to do that.“
Sydney will host the FIFA Congress in May, which the world governing body’s executive committee that decides hosting rights for future World Cups.
Asia’s football chief Mohamed bin Hammam has urged just one Asian bid to maximize the confederation’s chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup.
Bin Hammam, here last November for the AFC Annual Awards, cautioned against conflicting Asian bids in the face of opposition from elsewhere.

LONDON, Feb. 3--Argentina legend Diego Maradona denies he has ever apologized for the “Hand of God“ goal he scored against England in the 1986 World Cup.
The former playmaker said he was misquoted by The Sun newspaper as apologizing to English fans for the first goal he scored in their quarter-final clash.
“I said that a long time has passed since that and that history can’t be rewound,“ Maradona told radio station La Red. “They changed my words. I’ll have to talk with the translator who was there to ask him for an explanation.“
The World Cup winner, who won 91 international caps, has also repeated that he is waiting for a call from the Argentinean Football Association (AFA) for a chance to work with the national team.
“They never gave me the opportunity to work with the national team,“ he said.
“They told me that the doors were open for me, but they never gave me the key.
“Sadly, when you face Blatter and Grondona (Julio, AFA president) all the doors close.“

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 3--South Korean prosecutors Sunday indicted 92 footballers for deliberately damaging their bodies in a bid to dodge compulsory military service.
The players dislocated their shoulders with dumb-bell exercises to get orthopedic operations which helped them justify their absence from service in 2006 and 2007, Yonhap news agency said.
After making themselves physically unfit for the military, six were completely exempted from service while 86 were allowed to do community service at state offices instead, according to Yonhap.
Some of the footballers ruptured muscles to help dislocate the shoulder, the report added.
It did not disclose the names of the indicted players, but said they included 15 former and incumbent players from the country’s top professional league, with others from minor and amateur leagues.
An orthopedist, identified only by his family name Yoon who did the surgery, has been indicted over the scam but denied wrongdoing, Yonhap said.
All able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the military for at least two years. Those physically unfit are exempted or do community service or work at state-selected firms.
But draft-dodging is deep-rooted as the system of allowing qualified draftees has long been open to abuse, with athletes, entertainers and sons of the rich and powerful buying their way out.

LONDON, Feb. 3--Amir Khan overcame the biggest threat to his unbeaten record when he was taken 12 rounds for the first time in his professional career by Gairy St Clair before retaining his Commonwealth lightweight title here on Saturday.
According to AFP, the English boxer made a successful third defense of his title against his Guyana-born, Australia-based challenger St Clair, who refused to be stopped for the first time in a 47-fight career.
Khan triumphed by the wide margin of 120-108 on all three of the judges’ scorecards in a unanimous points decision.
The 21-year-old has now won all of his 16 professional fights since capturing the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games.
St Clair, 33 on Saturday, moved to 39 wins, six losses and two draws after surviving Khan’s furious raids. The Englishman dominated but not as much as in most of his fights.
St Clair is a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) world super-featherweight champion and used that experience to block a lot of Khan’s blows.
Khan won his previous fight in just 72 seconds, but St Clair, who spent a lot of the fight stalking the champion around the ring, has taken former world champions such as Diego Corrales the distance and never looked in trouble in the early exchanges.
Khan made a carefully controlled start boxing off the jab and by the second round was regularly piercing his opponent’s jab.
In the eighth round, St Clair seemed to slowing down but landed a big left in the tenth to remind Khan he was still in a fight.