Tehran, Apr 27 (IANS): The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) has said that it is unable to receive financial assistance from FIFA due to sanctions against the country's banking system.

FIFA, the world football governing body, has announced that it will distribute $150 million to member associations over the next few days as the first step of a relief plan to assist the football community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each member association will receive $500,000, along with any other remaining funds they were due to receive.

However, FFIRI has serious problems with regard to receiving financial assistance from FIFA, as broad US restrictions on Iran's banking system are still in force.

Ali Soleimani, the Treasurer of FFIRI, said the sanctions against Iran are in place, and "FIFA has not yet found a safe solution to pay the revenues of Iranian football and I think the problem with this financial assistance remains the same," Tehran Times daily reported on Sunday.

"Many efforts have been made in this regard, but we have not reached a suitable solution." he added.

FIFA, in a statement, said last week that the operational funding for 2020 and 2019 will be paid to 211 national governing bodies across the globe.

It said that the immediate financial assistance should be used to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19 on football in member associations, namely to meet financial or operational obligations that they may have towards staff and other third parties.