No approach by Iran despite lift of ban, Karimi says

Reuters - Former Asian player of the year Ali Karimi insists he has not been invited to rejoin the Iran squad for their remaining World Cup qualifiers, despite the lifting of his ban for speaking out against the country's soccer federation.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a huge soccer fan, called for Karimi's suspension to be lifted for the good of the team, but the midfielder, rated as one of Asia's best, said no one has yet approached him.

"It is said that I was allowed to come back to the team but nobody has called me yet... there are some personal and irrational viewpoints that forced me out," Karimi said in a letter sent to the Mehr news agency, printed in Thursday's Tehran Times.