TEHRAN, Nov. 25--Iran's Football Federation Friday said it reserves the right to appeal FIFA's decision banning Iran from all international activities to the international sports court.
The FIFA Emergency Committee composed of the FIFA president and one representative each from the six confederations Thursday decided to suspend the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) from all international activities due to government interference in football matters and violation of Article 17 of the FIFA governing statute.
In a statement issued Friday, IRIFF said it believes negotiation can help solve problems, IRNA reported.
IRIFF added it will make use of all means and measures to remove ambiguities and defend the rights of Iranian football.
The statement also blamed previous federation officials for providing FIFA with inaccurate and misleading information without considering their effects on Iranian football which led to FIFA's decision.
Iranian national football coach Amir Qalehnoei told Mehr news agency Friday that Iran's suspension will have a negative impact on the country's football.
The suspension means Iran will not be able to participate in next week's Asian Games in Doha, Qatar (Doha 2006), where it was supposed to defend its champions title in 2006.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 25---Iran's National Olympic Committee Chairman Reza Qarakhanlou, accompanying members of the national disabled athletic team participating in the 9th Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC), arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday night.
Qarakhanlou and the national team were welcomed at Kuala Lumpur's international airport by officials of Malaysia's Olympic Committee, IRNA said.
Over 50 states are taking part in the inaugural ceremony of the 9th FESPIC Games scheduled for this evening. The games will run for 10 days.
The Iranian team consists of 274 men and women athletes who are participating in the games for the first time since its establishment in 1975.
The FESPIC Games is the biggest multi-sports and multi-disability event for athletes with disabilities in Asia and Oceania, and the second largest games in the world after the Paralympic Games.
FESFIC Federation has been organizing the games every four years since the inaugural games in Oita, Japan in 1975 which saw participation by 973 athletes from 18 countries.
The 8th FESPIC Games was held in Busan, Korea in October 2002 with 3,800 athletes from 43 member nations competing in 17 sports.

TEHRAN, Nov. 25--General Assembly of Alpine Club of Iran elected its new board of directors here on Thursday.
The session heard a report on the performance of the outgoing board of directors by the former president of the club, Kiumars Babazadeh and some other members of the board who held office for the past two years, according to Iran Mountain Zone News Department.
The new elected members of the board of directors:
Abbas Mohammadi, Esmaeil Rezaei, Mohammad Ali Roudi, Mahmoud Bahadouri, Shakoor Lotfi, Afsar Shandiz and Parasto Abrishami
Meanwhile, Babazadeh was elected as inspector and Mohsen Foqani and Souren Sepanian as substitute members for the board.
Alpine club of Iran was established in 1999 and has been operating as a NGO from 2003 representing Iranian mountaineering community.

NEW YORK, Nov. 25--Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams contributed double-doubles as the red-hot Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers 114-108 in Salt Lake City, extending their win streak to eight games on Friday.
Boozer outshone Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant, pouring in 31 points and pulling down 16 rebounds as the Jazz continued their best start to a season in franchise history by improving their record to 12-1, Reuters said.
Okur added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Deron Williams chipped in with 15 points and 10 assists as the Jazz received double-digit efforts from six players.
Capping off an all-around good night, Andrei Kirilenko made his return to the Jazz lineup after missing five games with an ankle injury and helped out with five blocked shots, four points and four assists.
The Lakers dynamic duo of Bryant and Lamar Odom had another productive outing, scoring 27 and 26 points respectively but it was not enough to keep Los Angeles from absorbing their first loss in five games.
The Jazz had looked poised for their first home loss when Odom hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 107-107 with just over a minute to play.
But the Lakers got no closer, Williams hitting back with a three-pointer to put the Jazz in front for good.
Dirk Nowitzki bagged 31 points and 10 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks held on to beat the Spurs 95-92 in San Antonio to claim their eighth straight win after opening the season with four consecutive losses.
J.R. Smith had 31 points and Carmelo Anthony added 30 as the Nuggets won a 140-129 shootout over the Golden State Warriors in Denver.

Schalke 04's Hamit Altintp challenges VfL Bochum's Filip Trojan (r) during their German first division Bundesliga soccer match in Gelsenkirchen. Saturday. (Reuters Photo)

BERLIN, Nov. 25--Schalke 04 beat Ruhr Valley rivals Bochum 2-1 on Friday to stretch their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to five points.
Brazilian defender Rafinha struck from a tight angle for the first goal in the 19th minute and Danish striker Peter Lovenkrands doubled the lead eight minutes later.
Theofanis Gekas got one back with a diving header five minutes after the restart but Bochum lost momentum when Heiko Butscher was sent off for a push on Lovenkrands as he ran into the area midway through the second half.
Peter Skov-Jensen saved the resultant penalty from Levan Kobiashvili but Schalke took advantage of the extra man to keep Bochum at bay, Reuters reported.
Victory gives Schalke 29 points from 14 games, ahead of Werder Bremen and VfB Stuttgart on 24 and champions Bayern Munich on 23.
Werder host Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday, while Bayern visit Hamburg SV. Stuttgart are at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
Bochum's defeat leaves them deeper in trouble, third from bottom and with just 12 points from their 14 games.
Bochum were the better side early on but missed their best chance when Gekas reached a defence splitting Zvjezdan Misimovic pass only to shoot against the goalkeeper's legs.
Schalke recovered and settled the game with two goals in eight minutes.
Rafinha took a flick from Halil Altintop and broke into the area on the right before beating Skov-Jensen with a powerful shot for the first.
Lovenkrands then followed suit, racing on to Kevin Kuranyi's header and striking first time through the keeper's legs.
The goal from Gekas, the sixth of the season from the Greek striker, sparked a furious spell from Bochum as they chased an equalizer before the red card slowed them down.

HIROSHIMA, Japan, Nov. 25--Bulgaria and Serbia and Montenegro continued their winning streaks with their sixth straight wins to remain unbeaten in the men's world volleyball championships on Saturday.
Bulgaria outgunned 1989 World Cup winners Cuba 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 in the eight-team Pool F round robin stage in Hiroshima.
According to AFP, Serbia and Montenegro downed Puerto Rico 25-18, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 in Pool E in Sendai.
"It was a very important victory, but my players couldn't show the best performance today, because it was too early to play. Eleven o'clock is not the best time to play such an important match," said Bulgaria's coach Martin Stoev.
Bulgarian captain Plamen Konstantinov agreed with Stoev, saying: "There are five European teams in this pool, so it's better for everybody because there are many fans in Europe who want to see the matches."
"It's the middle of the night for them, so they can't see them.
But we were prepared for this game. We wanted to start the second round with a victory and we got it, so now we look forward to tomorrow," he added.
In other matches, Athens Olympic bronze medalists Russia whipped Argentina 25-18, 25-20, 25-14 in Pool E, while all-conquering Brazil brushed aside the United States 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 in Hiroshima, both for a 3-1 record.
"There is no easy match in the second round. Every game is very important because of the points system. Today, we had a wonderful match. We could show our skills at a very high level," said Russia's coach Zoran Gajic.
Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende appeared satisfied with his players who finally showed their top form.

Justin Rose

MELBOURNE, Australia, Nov. 25--England's Justin Rose was poised to end a four-year title drought on the European Tour after taking a two-shot lead following the third round of the Australian Masters at Huntingdale on Saturday.
The world number 69 fired an eagle and four birdies in a four-under-par 68 to move to 13-under, two ahead of France's Raphael Jacquelin and Australia's Greg Chalmers and Aaron Pike in the event co-sanctioned with the Australasian tour, reported Reuters.
Rose, chasing his first win since the 2002 British Masters, will be aware of the impressive cast of contenders in the chasing pack after a day of favorable, overcast conditions in Melbourne's southern suburbs.
Jacquelin, who fired a 67, and Chalmers were on 11-under alongside Pike, the amateur who recovered well with a birdie-birdie finish after double-bogeying the opening hole to see his two-shot overnight lead vanish immediately.
England's World Match Play champion Paul Casey was on eight-under after a contrasting round of 67 which included an eagle, six birdies and three bogeys.

MANCHESTER, UK, Nov. 25--Alex Ferguson believes his Manchester United side can strike a decisive blow in the Premiership title race by taking Chelsea into uncharted territory when the teams meet at Old Trafford on Sunday.
After two seasons of almost complete dominance, Jose Mourinho's men find themselves trailing United at the head of the table and face the prospect of a six-point deficit if Ferguson's side secure a home victory this weekend, AFP said.
And having spent the last two years playing catch-up, the United manager is looking forward to seeing how champions Chelsea cope with the role reversal.
"Over the last two years Chelsea have been in a fantastic position of being nine or 10 points ahead of us and that has been very difficult to peg back," Ferguson said.
"We did our best last year in terms of coming on a late run but we weren't quick enough. But we have got out of the box this time and for the first time we are in front and we have the prospect of maybe going six points clear which will mean we have them chasing us rather than us chasing them."
Ferguson's claims over the last two years that his side were a work in progress have been justified this season, Tuesday's Champions League defeat at Celtic notwithstanding.
And the Scot's conviction United can put clear water between themselves and the side he views as their only serious title rivals is based on a belief that, for all Chelsea's activity in the transfer market, his own team has a spirit and togetherness that is now bearing fruit.
"They've added three great players to their squad this year, Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko and Ashley Cole," he said of United's London rivals. "But although they maybe have a bit more experience internationally, we're an emerging side.
"I said before their season that their main target will be the European Cup final and the buying of Shevchenko and Ballack strengthens that view and I'm sure that's very much in Jose's mind.
"But we've got to get ourselves in the position of being six points clear before we start thinking about what their (Chelsea's) reaction will be.
"The one thing we know for certain is that they'll be our main challengers and we'll be their main challengers."
The confrontation between English football's two dominant powers was given an added edge this week when Peter Kenyon, the former United chief executive who defected to take up a similar role at Chelsea, claimed his current side were on track to challenge United as one of the world's biggest clubs.
Ferguson, though, dismissed the suggestion, saying: "It's a nice time to bring it out.

HYDERABAD, India, Nov. 25--China defeated Japan 2-1 in a league tie of the Asian Hopman Cup tournament here on Friday but India remained the favorites to make the final from the group, AFP said.
China, who had lost 3-0 to top seeds India on the opening day, put up an inconsistent display but still overcame an unimpressive Japan under lights in the second tie of group A.
China and Japan shared the two singles to make the mixed doubles a point of interest for the first time in the tournament before China won it 6-0, 6-1 in under an hour.
China's 205th-ranked woman player Zhang Shuai, who had gone down tamely to Sania Mirza of India on Thursday, put the team ahead with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Tomoko Yonemura, ranked 40 places below her.
Zhang managed a service break in the sixth game to win the first set and after trading breaks in the second, lost the 10th game to gift away the set largely because of unforced errors.
In the deciding set, the Chinese player went a break down in the second game before hitting some crisp shots down the line at crucial junctures for breaks in the fifth and ninth games.
"I did not play well enough in the singles today. My serves were not up to the mark and I had to really slog it out," she said.
But Japan bounced back against China when 488th-ranked Yuichi Sugita defeated Gong Mao-Xin, the lowest ranked player in the fray at 997, 6-1, 6-3.
"Sugita's baseline play was much better. Also, I did not serve well and made a number of unforced errors," said Gong.