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IFF Lifts Karimi Ban
Iran Preparing for World Cup Qualifiers
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Ali Karimi
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Iran Football Federation has lifted the suspension of Ali Karimi following requests by Iran’s top political officials, and he is expected to feature for Iran against UAE National Team, Fars News Agency reported on Friday.
A statement issued by Mehdi Taj, deputy head of Iran Football Federation (IFF), at Iran National Team’s training camp said that due to requests by the late Imam Khomeini’s grandson, Seyyed Hasan Khomeini and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, IFF has lifted Karimi’s suspension, and depending on his fitness and Ali Daei’s consent, Karimi can be part of Iran’s line-up against UAE National team on June 2.
Karimi was suspended from Iran’s training camp on Tuesday May 20 until further notice, after criticizing IFF for mismanagement in the past decade.
Despite the call by IFF to Ali Karimi to apologize for his comments, the 30-year-old midfielder refused to do so and described his earlier criticisms as ’The truth only meant to benefit the nation’s football’.
Iran is preparing to play four crucial World Cup qualifiers in June.
Also Karimi, with over 100 international caps, is set to leave Qatar SC after only one season, ISP reported.
Qatar SC brought in Karimi from German giants FC Bayern Munich together with Djemba-Djemba (Aston Villa), El Karkouri (Charlton) and Diallo (Nantes) prior to the season. Two of the continents’ best strikers in Sebastian and Imad Ali have also been part of the club during a disappointing season where the team came short of winning any trophies.
Karimi is said to be one of the top earners in Qatar League, if not the highest earner with twice the wage previously earned at FC Bayern Munich. However it’s been reported he now is eager to move away from the club. Speculations indicate Karimi could be heading back to UAE where he previously played four seasons for Al Ahli.
Karimi is also on the wish list of Iranian champions Persepolis, the club where Karimi got his big breakthrough.
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Mancini Hits Out After Inter Axe
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Roberto Mancini
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Roberto Mancini has called in a lawyer after Inter Milan claimed he was axed for announcing he would quit after the Champions League loss to Liverpool.
Mancini changed his mind the day after the last 16 defeat in March.
Lawyer Stefano Gagliardi said it was too late for Inter to use this as a justification for sacking him.
Gagliardi said, “We abide by the national contract for a coach who says that a club has 10 days from an alleged breach to take action.“
Gagliardi told ANSA news agency: “Any event referred to in the statement happened months ago.“
Inter’s statement also mentioned ’events that emerged recently in the news’.
Gagliardi said this was a reference to wiretaps published in the press from a drugs probe involving a person known to Mancini and some players; even though there was never any suggestion anyone at Inter had done anything wrong.
Mancini said in a statement that he had taken legal action against these reports that had ’offended my honor and reputation’.
He also criticized the club for bringing them into his dismissal, saying, “I have given my lawyer the job of protecting my image, while condemning the behavior of the employer club in that it tried to exploit false, illicit stories.“
Gagliardi revealed Mancini was angry at the manner of his departure after leading Inter to a third consecutive Serie A title.
He said, “Mancini is angry and disappointed because he feels injured as a person and troubled. He and his family feel affected by this affair.“
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Pennetta Down Williams
Venus Williams bowed out of the French Open just nine hours after sister Serena when she was beaten 7-5 6-3 by Italian 26th seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round on Friday.
Venus appeared to have picked up her sister’s errant ways and rarely reproduced the form that carried her to the 2002 final and inevitably, she followed Serena out of the tournament, Reuters said.
“It wasn’t a good day for our family but we always plan to get more determined,“ said Venus, who lost the 2002 final to her sister.
Pennetta, who completed victory will play Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro in her first last-16 match at Roland Garros.
“I think I played a great match,“ said Pennetta, who won her previous meeting with the six-time grand slam winner in Bangkok last year.
“I’m very happy about that, because it’s the first time in a big stadium like this. I never played there, and it’s a great victory, so I’m very happy.“
Although she started confidently, breaking in the second game, the American eighth seed dropped serve four times in the opening set, the last time in the 11th game with Pennetta following up to take command of the contest after 45 minutes.
Pennetta continued to take advantage of her opponent’s unforced errors to start the second set with a break and she broke Venus’s serve a second time in the decisive game, sealing victory after 85 minutes with a forehand winner.
Venus’s sister Serena had been knocked out in the third round by Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik to complete a miserable day for the Williams clan.
“She played well, I think that was the biggest problem,“ Venus added.
“She hit a lot of lines and I wish her the best of luck in the tournament.“
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Juventus Sign Amauri
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Amauri
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Juventus have signed Brazilian striker Amauri from Palermo and sold Italian midfielder Antonio Nocerino to the Sicilians, the Serie A clubs said on Friday.
“Amauri belongs to Juventus,“ said Juve’s website, ending weeks of speculation. “Today the Brazilian forward signed a four-year contract.“
Amauri, who is acquiring an Italian passport, scored 15 league goals last season and was much in demand, with AC Milan and clubs in England also interested.
Juventus were always front runners to sign the 27-year-old but a complicated transfer has taken weeks to conclude.
They will pay 22.8 million euros while Palermo will spend 7.5 million euros on the gritty Nocerino, who has one Italy cap and has also agreed a four-year deal.
“When I came to Italy eight years ago, it was my dream to play in a big club. Today it came true,“ Amauri told a news conference.
Amauri is expected to be one of four Juventus strikers next season. The Turin club is in the Champions League qualifiers following their third-placed finish in Serie A.
Juve striker Alessandro Del Piero was the league’s top scorer with 21 goals with team mate David Trezeguet on 20.
Vincenzo Iaquinta, who missed out on Italy’s Euro 2008 campaign through injury, is the other out-and-out striker on Juve’s books but media reports have linked him with a move away.
Palermo have also signed playmaker Fabio Liverani, a free agent after his contract with Fiorentina expired this month, on a three-year deal, they said on their website.
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Soccer Violence
A violent clash between soccer fans and police left one man dead and dozens injured in Venezuela. Fire department official Giovanny Moreno said the violence erupted outside a stadium in the western city of San Cristobal.
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Khatibi Joins Al Dhafrah
Al Dhafrah continued to strengthen their team for the new Professional League next season as they finalized deals with Iranian striker Rasoul Khatibi, from an Emirates club and UAE’s striker Mohammad Al Enazy from Al Wasl.
Khatibi has scored 14 goals last season for Emirates club but it was not enough to prevent the team from relegation to the second division while Al Enazy, who had played for Al Wahda, Al Jazira and Al Wasl, was known as ’Mr. hat-trick’ because of the many hat-tricks he scored during his career.
He helped Al Wasl to win the double in the 2006-07 seasons and have scored many goals for them this season before joining his younger brother Mohammad in Al Dhafrah.
“We are determined to stay in the Pro-League for many seasons. To achieve that goal we have to bring good players to strengthen our ranks,“ Ahmad Al Qubeissi, the club’s secretary general, told Gulf News.
Iran’s Basketball Beat Algeria
Iranian basketball team narrowly defeated the Algerian squad in Italy’s quartet warm-up games ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Iranian team beat Algeria 80-78 in its second match on Friday evening. The Iranian all-star team traveled to Italy to attend a four-squad friendly match to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, PressTV reported.
Iran’s basketball players thrashed Croatia 76-66 in the first match and will face Italy on Saturday evening. The Iranian team is also slated to travel to Montenegro to play more friendly matches.
Iran will play against Argentina, Lithuania, Russia and Australia in Group A of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which will be held from August 8-24.
Pegah, Barq Vie for Final
In the semifinal of Iran Cup, Barq of Shiraz will meet Pegah of Gilan at Rasht’s Sardar Jangal Stadium on Sunday.
Pegah who defeated power horse Sepahan at the same venue last week, hopes to win the game and reach the final where they’ll face Esteqlal of Tehran.
Pegah’s Head Coach Nader Dastneshan said that after beating Sepahan in extra time, the team’s spirit is high.
“My players want nothing but to beat Barq at home,“ said Dastneshan.
“We are sure that we will have a tough time against them. The important thing for us is to be in the final,’ he added.
Meanwhile Mahmoud Yavari of Barq told ISNA that his side had good training last week and is fully prepared for the match. “We had a good time to rest. I know Pegah has good players. They play a tactical game. We know we have a hard task ahead. It is an important game for both sides and neither wants to be a loser. I cannot predict who will win but I hope both teams have a good game.“
Celtics Move Past Pistons
Boston Celtics got past an old nemesis to set up a match up with another rival. Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Ray Allen had 17 and Kevin Garnett added 16 to lift the Celtics to an 89-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, AP reported.
Boston, which locked up with Detroit many times in the 1980s, will now rekindle another classic series in the NBA finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“It’s kind of surreal,“ Garnett said.
The Celtics are in the NBA finals for the first since losing to the Lakers in 1987, the third meeting in a four-year span.
The Pistons were eliminated on their home court for the first time during a six-year run that included a trip to the conference finals each year and the 2004 title.
Boston entered the series without a road win in the postseason, and then beat Detroit on its home court twice to win the grueling series.
After playing two Game 7s, the Celtics will get a needed break before hosting Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Thursday night.
“We’re emotionally drained,“ Garnett said.
Chauncey Billups scored a playoff-high 29 points and Richard Hamilton had 21, but the rest of their teammates had lackluster efforts especially Rasheed Wallace.
At one point Billups had 21 points, matching the total for the rest of the team.
Wallace scored just four points on 2-of-12 shooting and had three turnovers in what might’ve been his last game as a Piston and could’ve been Flip Saunders’ last as Detroit’s coach. President of basketball operations Joe Dumars will likely make some sort of changes on the bench, the court or both.
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