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Reigning champions Bangladesh have been placed in Group B with title contenders India for the upcoming South Asian Football Federation Championship, starting on December 7 at the port city of Karachi in Pakistan.
   The draw of the south Asian regional football tournament was held in Singapore on Thursday with general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation, Peter Velappan, gracing the ceremony as the special guest. Representatives from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan were also present.
   Bangladesh, the reigning champions, and the runners-up Maldives were placed in different groups. Besides Bangladesh and India the Group B comprises Nepal and Bhutan. The Group A teams are: the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the hosts Pakistan.
   Bangladesh have to play strong football from the very beginning when they meet Bhutan in their first match. Bhutan seem to be the only team that will not give a strong resistance.
   Both India and Nepal have the capabilities that match Bangladesh. India, with a ranking of 134 in the latest FIFA list, are the highest-ranked team in the tournament. Bangladesh's ranking is 168 while Nepal is 179th and Bhutan's ranking is 189.
   Bangladesh on their way to SAFF glory in 2003 defeated Nepal by 1-0 goals, beat Maldives by the same margin and routed Bhutan 3-0 before edging out India 2-1 in the semi-finals. In the final against Maldives the stipulated time was locked at 1-1 and Bangladesh lifted their first SAFF title winning the penalty shootout by 5-3 margin.
   Austrian coach Geroge Kottan guided Bangladesh to success in the last edition of the SAFF tournament. Now new coach Diego Andreas Cruciani faces the tough challenge to retain the silverware.

Senior players Matthew Hayden and Shane Warne Thursday went into bat for criticised Australian skipper Ricky Ponting ahead of next week's one-day cricket series against a World XI.
   Ponting has been largely blamed for Australia's 2-1 Ashes series loss to England earlier this month with influential past players Ian Chappell and Dennis Lillee calling for Shane Warne to replace him as captain.
   'One billion per cent (backing Ponting). Ricky Ponting is a fantastic little leader,' Hayden told reporters in Brisbane.
   'To be quite honest I'm sick and tired of even thinking about even reading anything about it. It's just ridiculous.
   'He's won a World Cup, (and) he's won series away from home in Sri Lanka and India.'
   Warne, who arrived home Thursday, said he also stood fully behind Ponting.
   'He is his own man and he's done a pretty good job,' Warne said. 'I'm sure he will become better and I'm sure we all will.'
   Amid calls that Warne was a better tactician that Ponting, Hayden said: 'I don't think Shane Warne would be better.
   'Four Tests and suddenly now you want change. I don't think so. I don't agree with that.' Warne said he agreed with Ponting that Australia had not lost its standing as the best team in the world because it had lost the Ashes Test
   series.
   'There are two ways of looking at it, like a heavyweight title fight if Bangladesh beat Australia in a one-day game they'd be the best side in the world,' Warne said.
   'You can't really look at it like that. It's over a period of time in home and away games when you play against most countries, that's when you become the best in the world.
   'You've got to, over a period of time, prove that. You can't just have one good series.
   'I think everybody will acknowledge that we have been the best team for a long period of time. Hopefully, it's just a hiccup.'
   Hayden, who responded to pressure for his Test opening position by scoring 138 in the first innings of the fifth Test at The Oval, has been dropped for the three-match one-day series against the World XI, starting in Melbourne next week.
   Hayden said he had been told by the national selectors they wanted to take a new approach for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
   The big left-hander said it would be 'very unwise for them (the selectors) to shut the door' on him as a one-day player.
   Hayden blamed a failure to adapt to England's tactics for his struggles in the Ashes series.
   'I was batting really well the whole summer, unfortunately and frustratingly,' he said.
   'A form slump is just how you approach it. It's nothing to do with your technique. You just don't slide off the wall with your technique.
   'With the analysis of our game it's the first thing that people go to but in my mind it's got nothing to do with that.'

Shaun Pollock, captain of the World XI in the three one-day matches against Australia starting October 5, hopes to build on England’s Ashes momentum.
   Australia’s bubble was burst during the summer, and South African Pollock is happy to use some of the strategies used successfully by the England camp.
   He said, ‘We’ve got Tim Boon from England, who’s the analyst for them. He’s bringing over some of the footage, some of the ideas that they used against Australia.’
   Andrew Flintoff bowled round the wicket at the left-handers to cramp them for room, Michael Clarke was prone to being bowled by the slower ball while Matthew Hayden was troubled by balls swinging into his pads.
   The one-day matches are all due to take place at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome, while there is also a six-day Test to follow at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Helping the World XI’s cause will be England stars Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen for the one-day series, and Flintoff and Steve Harmison in the Test squad.
   Pollock said he hoped their confidence would be contagious in his team’s attempts to keep Australia down.
   ‘Having beaten Australia currently, they must be feeling pretty confident and they are superstars in their own right,’ he said.
   ‘Hopefully that rubs off onto the other guys. (England) really performed well in that series - in the Ashes and the one-day series.’
   ‘I know Freddie (Flintoff) was Michael Vaughan’s turn-to man.
   ‘I can pretty much see myself turning to him at many opportunities to try to make an impact.’

President of Bangladesh Cricket Board Ali Asghar has asked its two squabbling officials, vice-president Shah Nurul Kabir Shaheen and general secretary Mahbubul Anam, to explain on Sunday the reasons that prompted them to engage in a mud-slinging battle recently.
   The official duo blamed each other for some mismanagement while choosing the teams for the upcoming GrameenPhone Corporate Cricket League, which blatantly exposed an internal feud in the BCB that had a new executive committee only in the last month.
   ‘I read their statements in the newspapers. Anyway it is not a good sign for the BCB. I will listen to both of them on Sunday.’ Asghar told New Age over telephone. On that day the BCB boss will also hear from the national captain Habibul Bashar and manager MA Latif about the recent failure of the national team on the Sri Lanka tour.

Araf Apparels and Epyllion Group will play the opening match of the GrameenPhone Corporate Cricket League at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium on October 5.
   The organisers have drawn up the fixture of the league with two other matches on the inaugural day to be held at the Fatullah Stadium and the BKSP.
   The group phase of the league will conclude on October 22. According to the fixture, both the semifinals will be held on October 25, two days before the Dhanmondi stadium hosts the final.
   Some of the group matches will be held in Bogra, Khulna and Chittagong. Ali Hossain, the secretary of the corporate league committee, informed all the participating teams have already agreed to play outside of the capital.
   Meanwhile, the league committee informed that the last team that made an entry into league only on Wednesday was actually Orion Group and not Oiental Group as mentioned by the BCB earlier.

Northern University and IBAIS University registered impressive victories in the Stamford Inter Private University Football on Thursday.
   Northern University defeated University of Asia and Pacific by 5-2 goals with Abdur Rahman slamming a hat-trick. Rahman scored in the 45th, 61st and 69th minutes of the game. Manik and Riaz were the other scorers. Galib and Ferdous found the net for the losing team.
   IBAIS beat Independent University by 3-1 goals. Bashar of IBAIS struck twice in the 27th and 65th minutes after Anwar opened the account in the 21st minute. Nabil scored the consolation goal for Independent University.
   Manik of Northern and Robin of Independent University were adjudged as the men of the matches.

Faridpur district stormed into the semifinals of the National Hockey Championship trouncing Rajshahi district 5-1 in the last super-six phase match at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
   Prashanta Kumar scored the first goal for the winners in the 20th minute of the match. Rajshahi levelled the margin within four minutes when national striker Ashraful Islam netted a goal. In the second half, Faridpur played much organised hockey which gave them another four goals.
   Hasan Ahmed scored the second goal for the victors in the 44th minute. Star player Musa Miah scored two goals in the space of seven minutes to secure Faridpur's victory. Shahidullah Titu completed the tally scoring the fifth and last goal of the match for Faridpur.
   Meanwhile in the second match at the same venue, Bangladesh Army played out a goalless draw with Dhaka district. Both the teams created some good chances but their strikers failed to utilize them.
   Bangladesh Army will now face Rajshahi while Dhaka will play against Faridpur in the semifinals on October 1 at the Maulana Bhasani Stadium.

Australian cricket fans can expect a bumper postbag from English friends and family over the next month after Britain's Royal Mail unveiled designs for a range of stamps celebrating England's Ashes series victory.
   Images of Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and England colleagues will appear on four stamps to mark the 'momentous occasion' of regaining the Ashes from Australia -- two first class domestic stamps and two for letters to be sent overseas.
   The English cricketers will be the first living people outside the Royal Family to have their likenesses clearly identifiable on British stamps.

Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar Thursday defended captain Sourav Ganguly after he was portrayed as selfish and lazy by England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
   A truce has been brokered by India’s cricket chiefs between Ganguly and coach Greg Chappell following a damaging rift.
   Relations between Chappell and Ganguly soured on India’s recent Zimbabwe tour and culminated in the Australian coach writing a confidential e-mail to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which was subsequently leaked saying the captain was unfit to lead his country.
   Reporters here Thursday sought Gavaskar’s views on Flintoff’s claims that Ganguly was a selfish and lazy cricketer.
   Flintoff, who played alongside Ganguly for English county side Lancashire in 2000, said in an extract from his forthcoming autobiography, Being Freddie:
   ‘You can accept a player not playing well, because we all have our ups and downs in our career, but he just didn’t want to get involved.
   ‘He wasn’t interested in the other players and it became a situation where it was 10 players and Ganguly in the team.
   ‘He turned up as if he was royalty - it was like having Prince Charles on your side.’
   Gavaskar, a member of the panel that appointed Chappell as coach and also brokered the truce with Ganguly, said Flintoff’s view was a misconception.
   ‘Ganguly has been portrayed as somebody who comes from a royal family, actually his nickname is Maharaj, which is like Emperor in Hindi, but I don’t think so,’ said Gavaskar, here as team director of the ICC World XI to play Australia in three one-dayers and a Test match over the next fortnight.
   ‘I find what little I’ve seen of him that he’s a very hard-working cricketer.
   ‘He likes to get into the nets and work at his batting and bowl in the nets, a lot more than perhaps do 20 laps of the ground or whatever that some other cricketers do.
   ‘I think he’s a hard-working cricketer, it’s just a misconception, I think.’
   Gavaskar said he expected Chappell and Ganguly to maintain a working relationship despite their blow-up.
   ‘We hope it won’t crop up again,’ Gavaskar said.
   ‘India’s got a pretty busy season, we’ve got 12 one-dayers - seven against Sri Lanka, five against the South Africans - and then Sri Lanka come back (for a three-Test series).
   ‘It’s a busy season and we’re hoping that everything will be okay.
   ‘I know it’s not always easy when you’ve had a public spat.
   ‘But both are mature people and having spoken to them, the committee having spoken to them, the committee believes that they will put their misconceptions behind them and go forward.’
   Gavaskar said Chappell and Ganguly had both accepted they ‘might have stepped out of line just a bit’ and would try to work together to take Indian cricket forward.
   New Zealander John Wright, who stood down voluntarily as Indian team coach earlier this year, has refused to buy into the raging debate.
   Wright, here as World XI coach, has declined to take sides, but said Wednesday the Indian people’s passionate love of cricket meant ‘minor things can become major things very quickly’.
   ‘I was very fortunate from the point of view that we always believed what goes on in the changing room stays in the changing room,’ he told AFP.
   ‘Sometimes as soon as things come into the public area they can take on a momentum all of their own.’

Shane Warne, Australia’s legendary legspinner, arrived home on Thursday pleading for the media to respect his privacy as he attempts to save his failed marriage.
   Warne, who was outstanding in a beaten Australian side in the Ashes series loss to England earlier this month, told reporters at the airport here that he is seeking a reconciliation with his estranged wife Simone.
   Warne separated from Simone, the mother of his three children, following a string of lurid tabloid newspaper revelations.
   Warne asked the Australian media to give him and his family space while he tried to settle his personal issues.
   He said he had spoken to his wife and children at least twice a day since they returned to Australia.
   ‘It’s not an easy situation to be in. It’s something I haven’t experienced before in my life,’ Warne said.
   ‘I tried to concentrate as hard as I could when I was at the cricket ground but away from that there were some tough times. There were nights when you would sit in your hotel room and think about all the different things.’
   Warne said he had never wanted to separate from his wife and would try hard to repair the marriage.
   ‘It’s not the way I wanted it to be,’ he said. ‘We’re still friends, we still speak all the time, but we’ve just got to work out what we both want, which way we’re going to go and which road we go down. That’s on the agenda - we’ve got lots of things to talk about.’
   Warne said the Australian media hounded him and urged them to give his family privacy. ‘Hopefully, you guys (reporters) will respect that and leave us alone, not following us and camping outside our house but I doubt it,’ he said.
   ‘I doubt whether you guys will, so that will probably make it harder.’
   Warne said lurid stories about him in the British tabloids were lies, rubbish and fabrication. ‘I’m not going to sit and defend myself every time some silly person makes up lies and talks rubbish,’ he said.
   ‘What am I supposed to do, call a press conference? You’ve got to live your life. The public are not dumb, the public understand what is absolute lies and rubbish when it happens. They know exactly what the truth is.’
   Warne hinted he was nearing the end of his international career, saying the constant travel was beginning to tire him.
   ‘I enjoyed living in England but I have to weigh up the whole package, the travel and so 7on.’

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, says the possible recall of veteran legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed for the series against England hasn’t put him under any extra pressure.
   Both Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, and Inzamam-ul-Haq, the captain, are keen on involving Mushtaq, who has just finished another successful season with Sussex with 80 championship wickets, for the series against England.
   Kaneria, who took 32 championship wickets for Essex and helped them to win the National League Division 1 ODI title with 16 wickets in 10 matches, told the Karachi-based daily, The News, ‘He is a different sort of bowler and I have my own style and qualities.
   ‘There is no competition between us. It would be challenging to bowl in tandem with him. But I don’t feel threatened at all by him and if they (selectors) want to try him I have no problems with that.’
   The nature of Mushtaq’s involvement, however, is not clear yet. Woolmer had told the Guardian that he wanted to exploit a traditional English susceptibility to quality spin.
   ‘I think most teams these days need five bowlers,’ he said.
   ‘Mushtaq has a lot of experience. Even if he is not in the squad, we would be keen for him to work closely with Danish. But Inzamam was keen that we should look at the option of bringing him back.’
   Mushtaq last played for Pakistan against South Africa at home in 2003. Then, he had also been recalled after a considerable gap although his return wasn’t particularly successful.
   He struggled against the tourists at the Lahore Test, where he played alongside Kaneria. While Mushtaq picked up a solitary wicket in 26 overs, Kaneria ran through the visitors in the second innings, taking 5 for 46 and leading Pakistan to victory.
   In the second Test at Faisalabad, Mushtaq again struggled and the series was widely seen as vital in confirming Kaneria, and not Mushtaq, as the premier legspinner in the team.
   The last time England toured, Pakistan adopted a similar approach by trying to combat them with spin.
   In the first Test at Lahore, they played three spinners and at Faisalabad, where Kaneria made his debut as a much-hyped ‘secret weapon’, he was one of four spinners. England successfully stifled the strategy, eventually winning the series 1-0.
   Kaneria, now a veteran of 28 Tests and 132 wickets, is relishing the English challenge.
   ‘England is a fine side and they have some very good young players. Bowling against them and trying to do well would be a big challenge for me. It is going to be a hard fought and exciting series.’
   And despite not playing against any of England’s stars this summer, he has been closely monitoring their progress whenever he got the chance.
   ‘I didn’t get a chance to play against any of the current English players for Essex. But I think Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen are very dangerous and attacking players. I have some things worked out for them in my mind and I have also got some good tips from speaking to some former England players about the England team.’
   Although his place in the Test side has been secure since 2003, he has struggled to make an impact at one-day level.
   But having played a part in winning a one-day title - as well as his wickets, his economy-rate was an impressive 3.51 - he said, ‘I feel I am good enough to secure my place in the Pakistan one-day squad, especially after the introduction of the super sub rule.’

Justice Anthony Lucky yesterday announced his resignation, ‘with immediate effect’ from all positions with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in which he has ‘lost confidence’.
   Currently in Hamburg. Germany, where he is serving as a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Lucky, who headed the three-man review into the circumstances of Digicel as the new sponsor of West Indies cricket, said in a telephone interview: ‘I have had enough of the lack of transparency and accountability from those in the WICB who are contemptuous of dissenting views and I cannot any longer work with them...’
   Lucky told the Trinidad Express that he ‘remains committed to assist in any way possible West Indies cricket, but not under the current administration now under the presidency of Ken Gordon, and particularly in view of a continuity of a process under the leadership of former President Teddy Griffith’
   His decision to part company with the WICB came a day after Barbadian business executive, Rawle Brancker wrote to Caricom Heads of Government outlining why there should be ‘a due diligence and forensic audit exercise’ into management transactions by Cricket World Cup 2007.
   Brancker resigned as chairman of the company, pointing to lack of transparency and accountability in its management. Yesterday, Justice Lucky said he admired the stand taken by Brancker.
   The judge headed the WICB’s code of conduct and discipline committee and also served as their representative on the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct committee before being appointed in June this year to chair the review committee that probed how Digicel replaced Cable and Wireless as new sponsor of West Indies cricket.
   A judge of 16 years in Trinidad and Tobago before his election in 2003 to serve with the International Tribunzal for the Law of the Sea, Lucky said that his resignation would be formally communicated to the WICB on his return home.
   He said he had earlier indicated to his committee colleagues, Avondale Thomas and Gregory Georges, that they should not only collectively respond to the WICB directors’ rejection of their findings as outlined in their report but also consider terminating their relations with the Board.
   The joint statement disagreeing with the board’s criticisms of their findings was made, said Lucky and now that he was resigning with immediate effect, it was entirely a matter for Thomas and Georges to make their own decisions.
   ‘Personally’, he declared, ‘I consider it an affront to my integrity that the WICB directors, among them Mr Gordon to whom I had presented two signed copies of our report, should have been so contemptuous in failing to extend to us the simple courtesy of a meeting to discuss our findings and recommendations and let us know of their areas of disagreement...
   ‘Instead’, added Lucky, ‘they chose to criticise the findings in a self-serving manner and up to today have failed to meet with the committee they felt compelled to establish in the wake of widespread public concerns across the Caribbean about the implications of the still secret sponsorship contract signed with Digicel...’

India’s Sourav Ganguly is unlikely to attend a meeting of Test captains called by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Australia next month so that he can concentrate on his batting, an official said here Thursday.
   The October 12 meeting in Sydney, where all the 10 Test-playing nations will be represented, clashes with the Challenger domestic one-day tournament in India from October 10-13.
   The tournament, featuring the top 36 players in the country divided into three teams, is seen as a selection trial ahead of the seven-match one-day series against Sri Lanka starting on October 25.
   ‘Ganguly has already made it clear he wants to play the Challenger,’ a cricket board official told AFP.
   ‘He can’t be at both places at the same time.’
   Vice-captain Rahul Dravid, who is in Australia for next month’s ICC Super Series between Australia and the Rest of the World, will be asked to represent India at the meeting in case Ganguly opts out, the official said.
   Ganguly, 33, has been at the centre of storm in recent weeks over a damaging rift with coach Greg Chappell, who wanted the left-hander to stand down as captain because of his poor batting form.
   India’s cricket chiefs worked out a truce between the warring duo on Tuesday and asked them to mend their differences for the sake of the national team.
   Ganguly, India’s most successful Test captain with 21 wins, has scored 5,066 runs from 84 Tests and 10,123 runs in 279 one-dayers.

Striker Raul became the first player to score 50 goals in European Cup competition history when he led Real Madrid to a 2-1 win over Olympiakos Piraeus in their Champions League Group F match on Wednesday.
   Artmedia Bratislava scored their first ever goals in the competition proper and staged an astonishing comeback to send 2004 European champions Porto crashing to a 3-2 home defeat after the Portuguese had been 2-0 ahead after 39 minutes.
   Real Betis also earned their first ever Champions League win with a 1-0 triumph at Anderlecht in Brussels, handing the Belgians their ninth successive Champions League defeat.
   Holders Liverpool, however, failed to score in a dull 0-0 draw with English champions Chelsea that was a pale imitation of their passionate semi-final clashes in last season’s competition, which the Merseysiders’ won 1-0 on aggregate.
   On the night when Raul re-wrote the scoring record books, Clarence Seedorf added a footnote to the scorer’s list with the third fastest goal in Champions League history. Seedorf, playing in his 100th European club match, scored after 21 seconds of AC Milan’s Group E match at Schalke 04, but the Italians had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
   In the same group Fenerbahce struck form to beat PSV Eindhoven 3-0 on a disappointing night for the Dutch who had Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink sent off. Brazilian Alex de Sousa scored twice for the Turkish side.
   Inter Milan beat Rangers 1-0 in a deserted San Siro stadium in their Group H match where the fans were banned as part of UEFA’s punishment against the Italians for crowd trouble in the competition last season.
   Lyon, who beat Real Madrid 3-0 two weeks ago, maintained their perfect start in Group F with a 1-0 win at Rosenborg Trondheim after Brazilian defender Cris scored the only goal in injury time at the end of the first half.
   Real seemed headed for an easy win after skipper Raul headed home a beautifully flighted cross from David Beckham in the ninth minute to beat the record of 49 goals established by their former striker Alfredo Di Stefano in 1964.
   Raul had equalled the record last November but instead of his historic goal inspiring Real to dominate Wednesday’s match against the Greeks, the away side levelled through midfielder Pentilis Kafes’s three minutes after the break.
   Substitute Soldado came to Real’s rescue when he got on the end of a another great Beckham cross after 86 minutes to head home at the second attempt and give the nine-time European champions a deserved victory.
   Real centre-back Sergio Ramos was sent off in injury time for retaliating against a foul by Ioannis Okkas.
   While Raul was making history, Artmedia Bratislava proved fairytales can still come true in football as they demolished Porto after trailing 2-0 to the vastly more experienced side.
   Porto went ahead in the Group H match after 32 minutes when Argentine midfielder Luis Gonzalez headed in a cross by winger Ricardo Quaresma.
   Brazilian playmaker Diego made it 2-0 seven minutes later with a shot inside the box that seemed to set the former champions up for an easy win over the Slovakians who fought past three qualifying rounds to make the group stage.
   But Artmedia pulled a goal back through Peter Petras in first-half injury time and stunned the 40,000 at the Dragao stadium when his fellow midfielder Jan Kozak equalised from a 54th-minute counter attack and defender Balasz Borbely grabbed the winner with 16 minutes to go.
   Betis, also making their debuts this season, also won their first match with victory over Anderlecht in Group G thanks to a 69th minute goal from Ricardo Oliveira against the run of play.
   The only goalless draw of the night was at Anfield where the European and English champions played out a tedious stalemate in Group G, although Liverpool became the first side to avoid being beaten by Chelsea in any competition so far this season.
   Midfielder David Pizarro’s 49th minute free kick gave Inter victory over Scottish champions Rangers after Julio Cruz struck a penalty against the post and Santiago Solari missed a sitter.
   Inter were playing the second game of a four-match ban on supporters imposed after crowd trouble at their Champions League quarter-final with AC Milan last season.

English soccer’s most famous club, Manchester United, has taken centre stage in this year’s hottest theatre production in Iran.
   Extra seating had to be set up on the stage itself to accommodate the crowds who flocked to see Iranian writer-director Mohammad Rahmanian’s FANS, which depicts a dysfunctional, soccer-mad family living in 1960s Manchester.
   Now embarking on an international tour including Sweden and Canada, the play centres on the life of the Shelton family—Frankie, Agnes, Nancy and Sonny—whose first initials make up the play’s title and its central theme.
   ‘I had wanted to write about prejudice-induced violence for a long time until I hit on football (as the vehicle) and where on earth could be a better location for a football play than England?’ Rahmanian told Reuters during a break in rehearsals.
   ‘The research for this work took two years. I went to different Web sites, interviewed fans of several teams and all that made this play one of the toughest ones I’d ever written,’ said Rahmanian, who has never been to Manchester and has only briefly visited Britain.
   Despite the play’s foreign setting, it struck a chord in the soccer-mad Islamic Republic.
   ‘I don’t think it makes any difference where the story is happening when it’s about football,’ said Taraneh Alidousti, who plays the part of Agnes.
   The play’s central character Frankie is played by Parviz Parastoui, one of Iran’s foremost theatre actors and the lead in the 2004 smash-hit comedy film The Lizard, about a convict who dons a cleric’s robes to escape the law.
   Frankie, head of the household after his parents died in a train crash on the way to a Manchester United match, rules the home with a cruel dominance, testing his wife Nancy, and younger brother and sister Sonny and Agnes on obscure soccer trivia.
   But Frankie’s grip begins to weaken with the arrival of a taxi driver who supports fierce soccer rivals Manchester City and whose charms prove irresistible to Nancy.
   Rahmanian, who assembled the script through improvised dialogues during rehearsals, incorporated the real-life drama of the disappearance of the World Cup trophy before the 1966 finals in England to engineer the story’s climax.
   Frankie finds the trophy and refuses to hand it over. His wife objects and he breaks her arm in a fight prompting her to leave home with her beloved taxi driver.
   Sonny hands the cup back to the authorities, but the pressure of defying his elder brother causes him to fall ill and die. Frankie is finally left on his own.
   The main set is a cross section of the Sheltons’ home. The walls are covered with old posters of United players and a clock frozen at the exact time on Feb. 6, 1958 when a plane carrying the team back from a European game crashed at Munich airport, killing eight players. While the dialogue is fast-paced and often laced with humour, the overall mood is dark and oppressive.
   ‘A hollow and distressed life is the only thing circulating in the minds of the audience at the end of the play,’ the Tehran Times wrote in a review.
   Rahmanian hopes audiences learn from Frankie’s story.
   ‘Prejudice leads to bullying and dictatorial attitudes inside and outside of the family framework ... I believe all of us, regardless of our differences, have a little Frankie inside us and we should confront him one day,’ he said.

The date for the opening of Wembley has already been put back
   The Football Association insist they have been given assurances that the new Wembley stadium will be ready to host next year’s FA Cup final on 13 May.
   A report had suggested that FA officials privately rate the chances of Wembley staging the final as 50-50.
   But a spokesman said construction firm Multiplex are on course to hand over the stadium on 31 March as planned.

Holders Liverpool dropped two Champions League points because they were denied an obvious penalty against Chelsea, coach Rafael Benitez said.
   'It was clear, watching the TV, unbelievable,' the Spaniard said after Wednesday's highly charged Group G game between the domestic rivals finished 0-0.
   Liverpool players and the noisy partisan crowd appealed for a penalty when defender William Gallas appeared to handle the ball in the area during a second half of intense home pressure.
   They also had an appeal turned down by Italian referee Massimo De Santis for a Paulo Ferreira tug on Luis Garcia's shirt as the Spanish midfielder bore down on Chelsea's goal.
   In close games between evenly matched sides, Benitez said, 'it is the small details that are important. That was a big detail'.
   The eagerly awaited re-run of last season's semi-final, which Liverpool won thanks to a disputed Luis Garcia goal, made up in entertainment and commitment what it lacked in goals.
   'We played at a very high tempo. It was a good game. But we lost two points because for me we played better than them.'
   Benitez was clearly pleased his side had matched Chelsea who have looked invincible this season, winning all their matches until Wednesday.
   'We showed we can beat them. We can press them in the air, on the ground. There were positive things,' he said.
   Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said he had mixed feelings. 'I'm not crazy happy and not very sad. A point in the Champions League away from home is a positive result,' he said.
   The Portuguese was clearly unimpressed with Liverpool's direct style to seek out the lofty Peter Crouch up front.
   'We had to cope with it and I think we did it very well,' he said. Mourinho was disappointed that Chelsea, packed with expensive international talent and 14 points ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League, could not make their quality show.
   'I don't think anybody s deserved to win the game. I think it was a fair result,' he said.
   Chelsea had lost their previoufour Champions League away games despite a run to the semi-finals last season and a 36-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.
   At times Liverpool looked like making it five.
   'It was very competitive,' Mourinho said. 'It was tough, it was a game for men,' he said.
   Both English sides have four points from two games and lead Real Betis, with three, and Anderlecht, who have yet to win a point.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is already paying out on bets that Premier League champions Chelsea will win the title again this season.
   Chelsea have made a record Premier League start of seven consecutive wins and are runaway leaders on 21 points. Their usual rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United, are already 10 and 11 points adrift respectively of Jose Mourinho's men with only a month and a half of the season gone.
   Though Chelsea still have another 31 games to play, Paddy Power said in a statement headlined 'Chelsea are Premiership Champs' that they will pay out on all single bets placed before 0700 GMT on Thursday for Chelsea to retain their title.
   'Chelsea are clear of the pack and not looking like they will be caught,' the company said. 'Accordingly, Paddy Power have declared the title race over...'
   A spokesman added that Chelsea, who are on a 36-match unbeaten league run and set a defensive record with just 15 goals conceded last season, were showing no signs of faltering. 'Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have all shown their fallibility. You can't see Blackburn Rovers beating Chelsea, can you?' he said, referring to United's defeat last weekend. 'Chelsea's defence is like the Great Wall of China. You just can't see a way round it.' Paddy Power is hoping to be luckier than in the 2002-03 season, when the company paid out early on Arsenal-only to pay out a second time when Arsene Wenger's side were pipped to the title by United.

Coach Wanderlei Luxemburgo said Real Madrid's failure to convert dominance into goals could have cost them dear in their 2-1 win over Olympiakos Piraeus on Wednesday.
   'We had five or six good chances but we just didn't score the goals,' said Luxemburgo.
   'We kept putting it into the middle but we couldn't get it in the net. If you don't do that then an isolated play or a set piece can cause you problems.
   'That is exactly what happened in the second half and that's when the nerves set in.
   'If we'd have scored before then the game would have been over, but we were lucky enough to get the goal in the end.'
   Real looked to be cruising towards a comfortable win after Raul's record 50th European Cup goal. The Spain striker got on the end of a perfectly flighted cross from Beckham to head home at the near post in the ninth minute.
   But the nine-times European champions, missing leading striker Ronaldo through suspension, spurned a hatful of chances to extend their lead and none of their forwards took advantage of a constant supply of scoring passes from Beckham.
    'Beckham has been playing very well for a while, this isn't the first good match he has had for us,' said Luxemburgo. 'The win will give us more confidence and I'm still hoping of finishing as group winners.'
   Meanwhile, Real Madrid must become more ruthless in front of goal, defender Ivan Helguera said after the 2-1 Champions League defeat of Olympiakos on Wednesday.
    'This is what always seems to happen in the Bernabeu at present,' said Helguera. It was the same against Celta Vigo and Athletic Bilbao in the league and now today. What we have to do is finish off games when we have the chances. They attacked once and scored.'
   'Perhaps we were a little anxious,' said full back Michel Salgado. 'This happens when you miss so many chances. But we have certainly lifted the pressure on us.'

Barcelona stars Ronaldinho and Deco insisted there was no problem between themselves and coach Frank Rijkaard.
   After Rijkaard left both players out of his squad for Saturday's win against Real Betis, rumours began of a row between the Dutchman and Deco, plus Ronaldinho being upset over the treatment of Julio Belletti.
   But Brazilian ace Ronaldinho said on Wednesday, 'The coach knows what he is doing. He's already succeeded and we're behind him. He has our understanding and the answer is we're with him.'
   Deco also said, 'I only listen to my trainer and never has he said to me that being rested is a punishment. He told me I had to rest and I accepted the decision.'

France coach Raymond Domenech on Thursday gave the country a boost with the news that Zinedine Zidane is selected for the potentially decisive World Cup qualifier against Switzerland on October 8.
   Zidane picked up a hamstring injury in their 1-0 win against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin three weeks ago and has since been out of action for his club side Real Madrid.
   Domenech has also recalled Juventus striker David Trezeguet for the Swiss encounter, which will be followed by a match against group strugglers Cyprus four days later (October 12).
   Trezeguet returns to the fray following a two-match suspension picked up against group rivals Israel in the Spring.
   Arsenal's Thierry Henry however is still out of action. Henry, who scored the winning goal in Dublin, is suffering from a groin strain and is scheduled to return mid-October.

Cristiano Ronaldo has assured Manchester United fans he is ready to sign his new contract.
   Ronaldo, 20, is currently just 18 months into a five-year contract.
   But the wing wizard - signed for £12million from Sporting Lisbon in August 2003 - is so happy at Old Trafford, he already wants to extend his stay.
   He said, 'I expect to sign a new contract as quickly as possible. I want to stay for many years.'
   The Portuguese ace starred against fellow countrymen Benfica to help lift the gloom currently hanging over United.
   He added, 'We wanted to win and to make a good impression - and we achieved that.
   'After they equalised, we got on top of them and I hit the post. United were the better team and we deserved to win.
   'We knew they would come here with a lot of ambition but we managed to impose our football.
   'Benfica have a good chance of qualifying but you must bear Villarreal and Lille in mind.'

Christian Stueckl, director of the world renowned Oberammergau Passion Play, will stage a 20-minute show before the opening match of the 2006 soccer World Cup.
   Stueckl, who also runs the Munich Volkstheater, will use 2,000 performers for the entertainment ahead of the first game on June 9, featuring Germany against as yet unknown opponents at a new 66,000 capacity stadium in Munich.
   'I was startled at first because I know nothing about football,' Stueckl told N24 television station.
   The official opening ceremony for the World Cup will take place at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin a day before the finals begin. The tournament, featuring 32 teams, runs until July 9.
   The Passion Play, featuring several hundred actors and lasting about six hours, takes place every 10 years in the Bavarian village of Oberammergau. The play, covering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, will be staged next in 2010.

Clarence Seedorf celebrated his 100th appearance in European club competition with one of the fastest goals in Champions League history on Wednesday.
   The AC Milan midfielder's speculative low shot from 25 metres beat Schalke 04 keeper Frank Rost after only 21 seconds of Wednesday's Group E match, according to local television timing.
   If the time is confirmed it would be the third fastest goal in the Champions League after Alessandro del Piero and Gilberto Silva, who are credited with scoring after 20 seconds.
   Del Piero's goal was for Juventus against Manchester United on October 10, 1997. Silva's was for Arsenal against PSV Eindhoven on September 25, 2002.

Adnyaa girls’
singles champion
Indian Naik Adnyaa outplayed Indonesian Ysidora Grace Sari 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the girls’ singles title in the Asian Under-14 series tennis at the national tennis complex on Thursday. It was Indian affairs also in the boys’ singles as two Indian boys reached the final defeating their opponents in the semi-finals. Sitaram Sudanwa beat Hutaruk Farulian of Indonesian 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the first semi-final. He, in the final today, will face compatriot Athore Mansingh, who defeated Akio Sy of the Philippines 6-1, 6-2. In the boys doubles, Indian pair Manuja Ronak and Sitaram Sudanwa qualified for the final beating Farulian Tito (Indonesia) and Akio Sy of the Philippines 6-1, 6-1. They will take on another Indian pair Athare Mansingh and Paranjape Sameer in the final today. Athare and Pararanjape trounced Fernando (Sri Lanka) and Baroowa Arzyzman (India) 6-1, 6-2 in the other semi-final. In the girls’ doubles, Ysidora Grace sari and Frederika Nadia of Indonesia moved to the final overwhelming Ching Ma Hi and Hossain Sadia of Bangladesh 6-0, 6-1. In the other semi-final, Bhanba of Bangladesh and Adnyaa Naik (India) beat Sultana Tasnova and partner 6-2, 6-1.
— BD News

Hazaribagh in Sheikh Russell football final
Hazaribagh Thana will face Shayampur Thana in the final of the Sheikh Russell Under-14 Football Tournament Monday at the Abahani Ground. In the second semi final, Hazaribagh Thana defeated Mirpur Thana 2-0 at the Abahani Ground on Thursday. Shakib and Jumman of the winners netted one goal each while Jumman was adjudged as the man of the match. Leader of the opposition and president of Bangladesh Awami League Sheikh Hasina will distribute prizes among the winners as the chief guest.
— BD News

Danesh, Sayem
in final
Danesh and Sayem reached the final of the Gen Yo-Cue Cult first-ever Pool tournament eliminating Rezaur and Sadaf respectively in the semifinals at the Pool Lovers in Banani here on Thursday. The final match and prize distribution ceremony will be held Saturday at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center. A total of 64 players were selected for the prize money of the biggest pool festival, approved by Bangladesh Billiards and Snooker Federation (BBSF) and organised by popular youth brand ‘Gen Yo’ of the mobile phone operator CityCell. The tournament champions will receive Tk 75,000 while four semifinalists Tk 20,00 each in prize money.
— UNB

Army’s nat’l
record
The Inter Service Athletics competition 2005 concluded with one national record at the Bangladesh Army Stadium on Wednesday. Coporal Azharul Islam of Bangladesh Army recoded the new national record in the discuss throw covering 44.06 meter to beat the previous record of 44.04. Host Bangladesh Army also lead the medal table with 19 gold, 17 silver and five bronze medals. Bangladesh Navy secured the second spot with 3 gold, 4 silver and 11 bronze medals.
— New Age