Gloves are off in Lehmann row

Jens Lehmann has been threatened with the sack by Germany for wearing the wrong gloves.

The official warning to Arsenal's 34-year-old goalkeeper - for wearing Nike gloves in Saturday's friendly against Iran in Tehran and taping over the logo - is the latest twist in a saga that has split German football.

The German FA have a multi-million pound deal with adidas and were angry Lehmann was not wearing sponsors' equipment.

An official warning letter was handed to Lehmann making clear that if he wore anything but official kit in future, his international career would be over.

He is unhappy with the censure but knows if he again wears the gloves made by Nike (Arsenal's sponsors) he will miss out on the chance to be part of the squad that contests the next World Cup in his homeland in 2006.

Lehmann has been at the centre of controversy all week in Germany. His long-running feud with rival Bayern Munich keeper Oliver Kahn for the No1 spot in the national team erupted again this week and ended in the dismissal of goalkeeping coach Sepp Maier, who was fired by manager Jurgen Klinsmann for openly backing Kahn.

Lehmann has 20 caps, the 35-year-old Kahn 74.

After Lehmann said last week that Maier was a " lobbyist" for Kahn, the former international shot back that Lehmann should forget about 2006 because Kahn was the best. Klinsmann is expected to replace Maier with Andreas Koepke.

Lehmann's barbed comment about Kahn's extramarital affairs in a previous spat didn't help their working relationship. The Bayern goalkeeper left his wife for a young Munich socialite and Lehmann, asked if he ever spoke to Kahn, said: "What would we talk about? I don't have a 24-year-old wife."