I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y DECEMBER 25, 2019 SPORTS 15

Stramaccioni, Esteghlal; Iranian women proud of gold medal wins in world an unsolved problem athletic contests IRNA — Since the outset of presence of the Iranian women SPORTS — After a in the world athletic contests two years ago, they are proud of deskthree-week scramble, winning colorful medals day by day. Andrea Stramaccioni has not yet returned On December 23, the Iranian women’s Alysh team clinched to to lead his beloved team Esteghlal the championship title at the 2019 world alysh competitions and two parties find themselves trapped held in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan. with an unsolved issue. The victory was the first in history achieved by Iran’s female He left the Iranian popular team after alysh wrestlers, and it made Iran be proud of its powerful women. the club failed to transfer his salary over Also about four months ago, Poupak Basami, Iranian woman the U.S. sanctions. who had taken part in the 2019 IWF World Championships Due to such problems, Esteghlal had in Pattaya, Thailand, broke her national records and stood been forced to transfer his wage through at the sixth place. multiple bank accounts, belonging to Participation of Basami and her teammates in the world contests several individuals in Europe. This had reaction worldwide as International Weightlifting Federation reportedly led to the partial closure of congratulated Iran for sending four female weightlifters to this Stramaccioni’s bank account in Italy over year’s world championships. money laundering charges. It was in 2017 that the Iranian Weightlifting Federation an- However, the Italian coach received nounced officially that female athletes are allowed to compete part of his unpaid salary after the repre- in the world contests. Now, after two years from the announce- sentative of an Iranian bank gave him a ment, the Iranian women can make history at the IWF World check at Iran’s Embassy in Rome. Championships on September 18-27. Under stewardship of Stramaccioni, Meanwhile, Mansourian sisters well-known to the world for Esteghlal had moved up top of the ta- their Wushu capabilities have brought several gold and other ble after about four years but the team colorful medals from the world competitions to the country. have earned four points from the past three matches, leaving the Blues in the third place. Esteghlal club say they have accept- Iran handball team to hold ed all conditions of the Italian coach; however, he is not ready to come back camp in Qatar to Tehran. “Stramaccioni had said he would have TASNIM — Iran national handball team left Tehran Tuesday returned to Iran if he had received his noon to hold a 10-day training camp as part of preparation for payment. We don’t know what’s the prob- the 2020 Asian Men’s Handball Championship. lem,” Ali Fathollahzadeh, a member of Team Melli will play several friendly matches with the Qatari Esteghlal board of directors, said. clubs in the camp. On the other hand, Stramaccioni has The 2020 Asian Men’s Handball Championship is the 19th demanded Esteghlal’s officials stop lying. never asked Esteghlal to increase his wage. play in AFC Champions League play-offs Stramaccioni’s thick walls of distrust edition of the championship held under the aegis of Asian Hand- The ex-Inter coach has recently published Esteghlal have a busy schedule in the as well as Hazfi Cup and Iran league and toward Esteghlal will only make things ball Federation. a post on his Instagram account he has coming months since the Blues have to cannot waste the time. worse for two sides. The championship will be held at City, Kuwait from 16 to 27 January 2020. It acts as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2021 World Men’s Handball Championship. IPL: Tractor back in title race Iran have been drawn in Pool A along with Bahrain and New SPORTS TEHRAN — Tractor defeated Shahr points adrift of top. Zealand. deskKhodro 3-1 in Tabriz to keep Iran Pro- In Sirjan, Gol Gohar celebrated their first win in the Pool B consists of Qatar, Japan and China. , Saudi fessional League title hopes alive. current season, edging past Machine Sazi 1-0 thanks to Arabia and Australia are in Pool C. Reza Asadi put the hosts in the lead in the 37th min- a goal from Mehrdad Abdi in the 51st minute. Host Kuwait are drawn in Pool D along with the UAE, Iraq ute and Masoud Shojaei made it 2-0 five minutes into Pars Jonoobi also defeated Paykan 3-1 in Bushehr. and Hong Kong. the second half. Mohammad Nouri opened the scoring for the host in Shahr Khodro got back into the game three minutes the 20th minute. Pouria Aryakia and Nima Entezari later when Mohammadhossein Moradmand pulled one also were on target in the 43rd and 48th minutes. back. Paykan forward Jalaleddinn Alimohammadi pulled Persepolis reaches poured cold water on their chances a goal back in the 81st minute. of levelling the match in the 72nd minute. Sepahan and Persepolis sit at the top of the table agreement with Branko Tractor moved to fifth place with 27 points, four with 31 points and one game in hands. Ivankovic: report

PLDC — Persepolis football club’s representatives have reportedly Bahrain’s Baqer gets 10-game ban for racist gesture reached an agreement with Branko Ivankovic in Zagreb, Croatia. FIFA has banned Bahrain defender Sayed fessional Footballers’ Association to The Croatian coach left Persepolis at the end of the last season Baqer for 10 matches for ‹discriminatory call for a government inquiry into the after the Iranian team failed to meet its financial commitments. behavior’ in a World Cup qualifier against proliferation of racist incidents in Eng- Ivankovic had said he would file a complaint to FIFA against Hong Kong, soccer’s world governing lish soccer. Persepolis but the Iranian team has reportedly negotiated with body has said. Italy has also been front and center him to change his decision. Baqer, 25, was captured on video mak- this season with Inter Milan’s Romelu Ivankovic, who is a nominee to take charge of Team Melli, ing a slant-eyed gesture in the direction Lukaku and Brescia’s Mario Balotelli has said he will lead Iran national football team if Persepolis of Hong Kong supporters after a goalless being targeted by rival fans during Serie pays off his debt. draw in the city on Nov 14. A matches. A source close to the club said that a delegation has traveled FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings In a separate ruling, FIFA ordered to Zagreb to negotiate with Branko over his settlement. against Baqer last month and announced Indonesia to play one match behind that the player had also been fined 30,000 closed doors without fans and fined the Swiss francs (US$30,530) and warned country’s soccer association 200,000 over his conduct. Swiss francs (US$203,500) over security World champion wishes The suspension follows the governing failings during a World Cup qualifier body’s July announcement that it had with Malaysia last month. Yazdani speedy recovery doubled the minimum ban for racist Malaysia were fined 50,000 Swiss behavior to 10 games. francs (US$50,890) for the behavior MNA — David Taylor of the United States, 2018 World Wrestling A number of high-profile racist incidents of their fans. Champion, wished the injured Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani have marred the game this season. Sierra Leone have also been told to play a quick recovery. The most recent involved the arrest one game behind closed doors and were “Wishing you a smooth and quick recovery. Great competitors of a Chelsea fan for allegedly racially fined 50,000 Swiss francs (US$50,890) are what make this sport and competitions so special. If all goes abusing Tottenham Hotspur’s South for a lack of order during a qualifier against well, I am looking forward to seeing you in Tokyo,” Taylor wrote Korean forward Son Heung-min in a Sunday. also alleged he was racially abused in Liberia in September. on his official Instagram account. Premier League match in London on Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger the same game, prompting the Pro- (Source: Reuters) Booze and football present tricky choices for Qatar Qatar will begin sifting through fan feedback from the and yellow shirt of his team Esperance, said that the Club World Cup to see how it can provide supporters with Qataris will need to shift their approach to satisfy fans a successful World Cup in 2022, but cultural differences from around the world who are used to gathering in will be a tricky challenge to surmount. large numbers to drink and sing before matches. The first ‘trial run’ for the Qatari 2022 World Cup Singing and chanting completed at the weekend, with Liverpool defeating “I think they have to be a little bit more open. You are Brazil’s Flamengo in the final. going to have teams coming from England, Germany, Judging from the views of fans, the feedback is likely France, South America - guess what? They have to be to be a mixture of reassurance about their infrastructure a little bit open.” but concern about the ‘fun factor’. Some Flamengo fans took to wearing Arabic-style Drinking and partying can be a tricky concept in a head-dress in their team’s colors and staff on the new country with strict restrictions on alcohol consumption metro system appeared a little flustered by large crowds and low tolerance for rowdiness. singing and chanting in the carriages. Meanwhile, Hooman Tavakolian, a former Iranian-Amer- “It’s much more about people than bricks and mortar Ali said that the “openness” was needed primarily in ican wrestler and a member of UWW, said that wrestlers and now,” Hassan Al Thawadi, head of Qatar’s World Cup allowing fans to enjoy their usual pre and post-match coaches in the United States are concerned about the conditions organizing committee, told Reuters in an interview. rituals which often involve drinking. of Yazdani. “Here [in US] all wish that Yazdani would make it “We are looking at the fans here at this event as part- In Qatar alcohol sales are limited to a handful of to the Olympics since they are waiting for Yazdani vs Taylor in ners, to educate and teach us whether our plans worked hotels which are allowed to operate bars but for the the final of Tokyo 2020.” or not, what can we improve, what doesn’t work and Club World Cup, organizers created a fan-zone, at a itself is not completely off the agenda. Yazdani underwent successful surgery on his knee on Mon- what we need to scrap all together.” golf club, where supporters could buy beer at friendlier “That is being discussed, keeping in mind that al- day. Doctors say that the Iranian Olympics gold medalist will The tournament attracted around 13,000 Brazilian prices than in high-end accommodation. cohol is not part of our culture but hospitality is,” said be prepared for the upcoming Tokyo 2020. fans as well as thousands of Liverpool supporters from Fans were then bussed from the fan-zone to the sta- Al Thawadi. In an interview with the United World Wrestling, Yazdani around the world. Mexican, Saudi and Tunisian fans dium, where alcohol was not for sale. “We want to ensure that everyone has a good time, said “It was a successful surgery. I am in a good situation now. were also in attendance to support other teams in the For the organizers this has the advantage of reducing we want to make sure that what we put in place, that I’ll start training on the mat in two months. I am in good spirits competition. the risk of alcohol fuelled incidents either in the city’s bridges the cultural gaps and cultural differences. now. Lets see what happens in future.” “All the facilities look top-notch. The stadiums are public places or at the stadium. “We have put something in place, I want to hear from Yazdani won the gold medal of 74kg freestyle wrestling in all state of the art, everything is state-of-the-art here,” It is expected that more fan-zones will be created for the fans, all of them, about their experiences in Doha. the 2016 Olympics. A year later, he changed his weight to 86kg said Liverpool fan Adnan Vola, who had travelled from the World Cup with concerts and other entertainment put About their experience of having a drink, going out to the and won the two world titles in 2017 Paris and 2019 Nur-Sultan. Britain. on to encourage supporters into these separated areas. stadium, we are here to listen and to improve,” he added. He is considered one of Iran’s main hopes to win a gold medal But Tunisian fan Ahmed Ali, decked out in the red But the possibility of allowing beer at the stadium (Source: Reuters) at the upcoming Olympics.