Almost everything Iran
does on the world stage
seems to be a reflection
of global politics.
And that extends all the way
to the country’s World Cup uniforms.
International sanctions dictate
what the country’s national team
can wear or can’t.
Let’s start with the jersey.
Typically companies
like Adidas, Puma or Nike
fight to sign contracts
with World Cup teams
and pay them
millions of dollars
to wear their jerseys.
But it’s a different
story for Iran.
Sanctions have made
sportswear companies
wary of sponsoring
the team’s uniforms.
Iran ended up signing
a contract with Givova,
an Italian sports brand.
But Iranian athletes
and media complained
that the quality wasn’t great.
The team then decided
to use Adidas jerseys.
But they had to
buy them themselves,
instead of being offered a
traditional sponsorship.
They even had to customize
their own jerseys.
Here in the team’s
World Cup photo shoot,
look at Ramin Rezaeian’s jersey:
It appears that his number
is placed upside down.
The jerseys had other issues too.
This do-it-yourself
approach to jerseys
also means team Iran’s
World Cup uniform
isn’t available for fans to buy.
Now let’s take a
look at the shoes.
Saman Ghoddos is a dual
Swedish and Iranian national.
He’s a striker for
Ostersunds FK,
a Swedish football club.
And he has a sponsorship
with Nike for cleats.
But now that he’s playing
for team Iran in the World Cup,
Nike won’t supply him with shoes.
The company says, “U.S. sanctions
mean that, as a U.S. company,
Nike cannot supply shoes to players
in the Iranian national team
at this time.”
But Iran is pushing forward.
They’re one of the
best teams in Asia
and are heading to Russia
with some experts saying they
have an outside shot
at some big upsets,
no matter what kind of
jersey they’re wearing.
