FIFA asks Iran to clarify reports national team players punished for supporting opposition

September 30th, 2009 FIFA to discuss male soccer age limit for OlympicsRIO DE JANEIRO — FIFA officials will discuss possible changes on the age limit for male soccer players at the Olympics. The governing body's executive committee meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday also will address preparations for the 2010 World Cup.

September 3rd, 2009 FIFA gives Chelsea 1-year transfer banZURICH — Chelsea was banned from signing any new players for a year because it encouraged a teenager to break his contract with a French team and sign with the English soccer power. The sport's governing body Thursday barred Chelsea from taking part in the next two transfer windows — January 2010 and the next offseason.

August 31st, 2009 Bone tests to show soccer players within age limitZURICH — Bone tests will be performed on soccer players at the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria to catch teams with over-age players. Soccer's governing body said Monday the MRI tests will "protect the integrity of the tournament" and serve "the spirit of fair play." The decision follows reports from Nigeria that the host nation intended to select older players for the Oct.

July 22nd, 2009 FIFA fines Ivory Coast after 22 fans die at venueZURICH — FIFA has fined Ivory Coast's soccer federation after 22 people died in a stampede at a World Cup qualifying match in March. The global governing body imposed a $46,800 fine Wednesday along with restrictions on the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.

July 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is working on plans to provide insurance cover to protect the salaries of players injured on national duty. AIFF secretary-general Alberto Colaco, who is keen on resolving the insurance issue before he lays down his office after the Nehru Cup in August, told IANS that some companies have shown interest in the insurance scheme.

June 25th, 2009 Football body asks Iran if players were punishedGENEVA — FIFA, the international governing body for football, has asked Iran's soccer federation to respond to media reports that players who wore green wrist bands in solidarity with the political opposition have been punished. FIFA wrote to the Iranian federation "asking for information, and seeking clarification, regarding current media reports related to Iranian national team players," FIFA said in a statement Thursday.

June 24th, 2009 FIFA gave away 70,000 free tickets at Confed CupJOHANNESBURG — FIFA gave away 70,000 free tickets so local South Africans could attend Confederations Cup matches during the group stage of the eight-team tournament. The governing body of world soccer decided to hand out the free tickets after some early matches at the World Cup warm-up tournament were played in half-empty stadiums.

June 23rd, 2009 Pro-opposition Iran soccer players may quit teamCAIRO — Several Tehran papers have reported that some Iranian soccer players are retiring from the national team, fueling speculation the departure was related to green bands the players wore in support of the country's opposition movement. The flurry of conflicting reports on the fate of the players hails back to the incident last week, when several members on the Iranian team wore green tape on their wrists in a World Cup qualifier against South Korea in Seoul.

June 17th, 2009 SEOUL - Several Iran players wore green armbands in a show of support for opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi in a crucial World Cup qualifier in Seoul Wednesday. In a match shown on television in Tehran, Iran fought out a 1-1 draw to leave their hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup hanging in the balance.

June 7th, 2009 PYONGYANG - New Iranian coach Afshin Ghotbi remained upbeat after his team was held to a 0-0 draw with North Korea in a match Saturday that many had deemed a must-win fixture for his underperforming team. "The match was very important for both teams so there was clearly a lot of stress for both the North Korean and the Iran team," Ghotbi told reporters after the match.

June 4th, 2009 Smaller soccer nations get Youth Olympics shotNASSAU, Bahamas — FIFA has given places at the first Youth Olympic Games to smaller soccer nations who rarely play on the world stage. Eight European teams have been chosen by UEFA to compete for a place at the inaugural games in Singapore next year where they will play for gold medals against teams preselected by the five other soccer confederations.

June 2nd, 2009 Warner and Blazer re-elected to postsNASSAU, Bahamas — Jack Warner has been re-elected as president and Chuck Blazer as general secretary of CONCACAF by the FIFA executive committee. Warner and Blazer ran without opposition at FIFA's congress on Monday.

May 29th, 2009 English-only 'Britain' soccer team for OlympicsLONDON — A soccer team of only English players is set to represent Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. The four "home nations" — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — sent a joint letter to world governing body FIFA on Friday saying they had agreed that an English team could represent Britain in both the men's and women's tournaments.

May 27th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's sports chief has agreed to a request by the United States national team to play a football friendly game later this year in Tehran's Azadi stadium, media reports said Wednesday. "We agree with holding this friendly game," Mohammad Ali-Abadi, who is also deputy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told sports daily Iran Wednesday.

May 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - The 16-member Indian archery contingent bagged three gold and four silver medals at the second Asian Grand Prix meet at Tehran, according to information received here. The mens recurve team of Tarundeep Rai, Muni Ram Tirkey and Kapil took the gold medal beating Iran 217-211 in the final.