Donald Trump has thrown a spanner in the works of the Iran football team as they prepare for the World Cup.
Sanctions on the country mean Nike has stopped supplying boots to players.
The U.S. president pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement and re-imposed trade sanctions last month.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury can charge a person who willfully violates the laws with criminal penalties of up to $1 million and 20 years in prison.
“The sanctions mean that, as a U.S. company, we cannot provide shoes to players in the Iran national team at this time,” Nike said in a statement.
“Sanctions applicable to Nike have been in place for many years and are enforceable by law.”
Iran's players have had to ask non-Iranian players on their club teams to loan them boots, while others had bought their own from shops.
Iran’s manager Carlos Queiroz is not happy with the situation:
"Players get used to their sports equipment, and it's not right to change them a week before such important matches."
Queiroz also called on FIFA to address the matter before Iran to kick off their World Cup campaign on Friday with a Group B clash against Morocco.
Iranian football officials have also noted their surprise after the international distribution division of the US company supplied boots to the team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, despite sanctions being in place at that time.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
