The first football match in Iran between men and women since the 1979 Islamic revolution took place last week. Cue swift punishment.

The first football match in Iran between men and women since the 1979 Islamic revolution took place last week. Cue swift punishment.

The Ayatollah forbids any physical contact between unrelated men and women, and Iranian women are even banned from attending men's football matches.

Esteghal, one of Iran's top two football clubs, held a bounce game between the youth team and its women's team. Though the coaches of the teams involved denied the game took place, video clips taken on mobile phones proved otherwise - three officials have been fined and suspended for between six months and a year.

Would you rather watch tennis, or politicians bleating? Serbia's state television network went with the former option last week, prompting a mini strike.

The slow-moving parliament, months behind schedule in adopting laws designed to speed up its EU accession bid, downed tools for two hours in protest at an unfathomable decision by RTS to broadcast Andy Roddick v Roger Federer in the Australian Open rather than the latest gripping episode of the legislative session.

The coach of a Texas high school basketball team has been fired - for winning 100-0.

Micah Grimes, formerly of Covenant School, refused to apologise for not reining his team in against Dallas Academy after administrators called the win "shameful".

It is an unwritten rule in high school sports that teams ease off when victory is guaranteed but Grimes insisted: "We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologise for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honour and integrity."

No word yet who the new coach will be; presumably only losers need apply.

Pittsburgh took on Arizona in the Super Bowl this morning: could the fact that the Steelers made it to the final end the economic crisis?

Analysts have worked out that in the six years the Steelers have competed in the Super Bowl since 1967, the average annual return for the S&P 500 index has been 25%, regardless of whether the team won or lost.

Further good news for those beleaguered by the credit crunch is that the game was played in Tampa, Florida. In the 13 years the Super Bowl has been played in Florida, the average S&P return is 14.2%.

Before you rush down the sub-prime mortgage shop, we should point out that the "experts" pointing this out are the same idiots who got us into this mess.