Carlos Queiroz Hits Back at Nike Boots Ban

Following Nike’s refusal to support Iranian football players with boots, the national team manager Carlos Queiroz has said the team will appeal to FIFA to decide over the case.

Nike said its refusal to provide Iranian players with boots at Russia 2018 was down to the White House’s decision to reimpose US sanctions on Iran as part of its exit from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Players get used to their sports equipment, and it’s not right to change them a week before such important matches,” Queiroz said at a training session outside Moscow. “We call on FIFA to come to our help in this issue.”

Nike had previously said in a statement: “The sanctions [from the White House] mean that, as a US company, we cannot provide shoes to players in the Iran national team at this time,” Rferl.org reported.

Team Melli’s shirts are provided by Adidas, the German company considered the main rival to Nike. Players are permitted footwear made by any sporting brand, but now Iranian players sponsored by Nike will not be allowed to don the boots because of the ban.

Iran was the first nation to arrive in Russia for the World Cup on Wednesday. The team is based at the Lokomotiv Bakovka Training Base on the outskirts of Moscow.

The national team will face Morocco in its first group match on June 15. Iranian players will meet 2010 World Cup winner Spain on June 20 in their second game. And on June 25 it will play against Portugal.