Esteqlal, Stuttgart to Play Fundraising Game for Bam Quake Victims Jan. 24

Mehr News  – Esteqlal of Tehran left here for Germany in the wee hours of Friday to play a charitable friendly against Stuttgart Saturday, raising fund for the quake-stricken people of Bam, southeastern Iran. 
An earthquake measuring 6.3 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale, the world's most lethal one in at least 10 years, leveled the historical city of Kerman Province and its suburban villages before dawn on Friday, 05:28 local hours (0158 GMT), when most people were still sleeping in their mostly mud-brick houses.

Round-the-clock relief efforts were complicated by piles of bodies in the streets, overflowing cemeteries, bitterly cold nights, rain, and aftershocks.

Over 30,000 people were reported dead.

Aid poured in from four corners of the country and the world to help deal with the huge disaster.

ESTEQLAL REMAINS TOP

Esteqlal extended its leadership in the 19th week of the third Iran Pro League as it fought against Fulad of Khuzestan to a 1-1 draw in Takhti Stadium of Ahvaz Thursday.

The two sides tied nil-nil before the interval but it was the 10-man home team, which opened the scoring from the penalty spot seven minutes into the second half.

Esteqlal defender Sattar Hamedani was red-carded as he brought down Fulad nimble striker Hossein Ka'bi in the area and Ali-Akbar Mahdipur converted the penalty.

Fulad, which reduced to 10 men as Payam Haji-Najaf received his marching orders from the referee Jalal Moradi for his second bookable offense in the 42nd minute took a defensive position and let the capital's blues heap pressure and grab the equalizer in the 69th minute when Yadollah Akbari's kick deflected by a defender kissed the left side of national keeper Ebrahim Mirzapur's net.

The draw helped Esteqlal stay at top on 37 points as the visitor Pas struggled to a 1-1 draw against the midseason leader Zob Ahan in Fuladshahr Stadium, Isfahan.

Pas and Zob, which played an uneventful game in the first half netted after the restart to level 1-1.

Mahdi Rajabzadeh put the home side ahead but the national midfielder Javad Nekunam scored the equalizer from the penalty spot.

Pas has stuck at Esteqlal’s heels on 36 points.

In other matches, Abu Moslem and Sepahan tied 0-0, the winless SAIPA fought against Barq to a scoreless draw, Fajr-e Sepassi and Paykan did not find the net and their clash ended nil-nil, Pegah of Gilan beat Shamushak of Noshahr 2-1, and Esteqlal of Ahvaz held Persepolis to goalless tie.

Hereunder comes the table:

Team p w d l gf ga pts

1. Esteqlal (Tehran) 19 10 7 2 33 22 37

2. Pas 19 10 6 3 29 20 36

3. Persepolis 19 8 7 4 32 17 31

4. Fulad 19 8 7 4 27 18 31

5. Zob Ahan 19 8 6 5 22 16 30

6. Sepahan 19 7 5 7 27 25 26

7. Abu Moslem 19 6 7 6 21 19 25

8. Pegah 19 7 3 9 21 32 24

9. Paykan 19 6 5 8 18 20 23

10. Esteqlal (Ahvaz) 19 5 7 7 27 30 22

11. Fajr-e Sepassi 19 5 7 7 19 26 22

12. Barq 19 5 7 7 24 32 22

13. Shamushak 19 3 6 10 13 24 15

14. SAIPA 19 - 10 9 13 28 10