Iran

A record number of people tuned in to watch Australia’s World Cup play-off on Tuesday with Uruguay .

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has come out against the Chelsea players who missed a UEFA Cup match in Israel because of worries about their safety, saying the "god of football" was watching as they lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv.

The Football Association of Ireland says it will not take out special insurance for the Republic of Ireland’s crunch World Cup qualifier play-off in Iran.

Players in Thailand's national soccer team will earn $44,000 (B
Stadia

US soccer officials have refused to bow to Moslem sensibilities and remove Budweiser beer advertisements from the stadium and programmes for a groundbreaking Iranian-U.S. game.
Business

Asian soccer chiefs have gaven FIFA until March to avert a regional boycott of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea by giving Asia the chance of an extra place in the finals.

Japan and Saudi Arabia will host the round-robin, quarter-final stages of the Asian Club Championship, the Asian Football Confederation announced.
Business

Iranian women will soon be able to play football, one of the Islamic republic's most prominent sports officials has said.
Media

American wrestlers will attend an international tournament in Iran in September, months after a groundbreaking visit by a U.S. team which launched exchanges between the two hostile countries.

The Goodwill Games failed to live up to their name when politics intruded.
Stadia

Iran is proving not to be the place to get into the bus business.

Iran's soccer federation is weighing an invitation to play friendly matches in the United States, a federation official has said.
Business

Asian soccer chiefs will decide on Tuesday whether to heed a call to boycott the 2002 World Cup in emergency talks on the region's representation in the finals.
Business

A top Asian sports official has said there was growing support within the region for a boycott of the 2002 World Cup in protest at Asia's representation in the finals.
Business

Iran, the United States and Northern Ireland have been jointly awarded FIFA's 1998 Fair Play prize.

A prominent member of soccer's world governing body FIFA believes Asia is winning the battle for more places in the World Cup finals in 2002.

The Thailand Football Association has written to FIFA to request a change of venue for their Asian World Cup qualifying match scheduled for Baghdad on Friday, a Thai official said on Tuesday.

Players in Thailand's national soccer team will earn $44,000 (?50,000) between them for each away game they win during the second phase of Asia's World Cup qualifying tournament.