2013 World Championships silver medalist Nick Symmonds is claiming he will sue USATF if they keep him off the national team over a sponsorship dispute. 

Remember when I qualified for #Beijing2015? Apparently @USATF does not. http://t.co/rDftzCVzdX pic.twitter.com/NawzZ4Z675

— Nick Symmonds (@NickSymmonds) August 6, 2015

“My concern is that…how far back can they go? If they wanted to, they could say I have to wear Nike from the moment that I make the team at USAs, and then all of a sudden they’re buying up the entire season. USATF and Nike are just taking way too much of the pie, so far as to violate my rights as an athlete,” Symmonds said in the report. 

 

Symmonds won his sixth 800m national title in June at the USATF Outdoor Championships, famously wearing temporary tattoos of his own company Run Gum as well as his shoe sponsor Brooks Running. He said that signing the contract would violate his own contract with Brooks Running, which he signed in January of 2014 after leaving Nike. 

 

According to the report, USATF has told Symmonds that he is off the team if he does not sign by Sunday. 

 

“USATF is a strong advocate for athletes to have as many sources of revenue as possible. But the standard for when our team uniform and our team products must be worn is well known, and it’s consistent with the rest of the industry within track and field, internationally and also in other sports,” USATF spokesperson Jill Greer said. 

 

USATF also claims that Symmonds already signed the contract once before as a Brooks-sponsored athlete. Symmonds disputes the claim, and has said that he will sue to recover costs if he is left off of the team.

Here is a letter from @USATF I received several weeks ago congratulating me on being selected to TeamUSA. #LetNickRun pic.twitter.com/o0ILnXdBaV

— Nick Symmonds (@NickSymmonds) August 6, 2015

Full report from Sports Business Daily can be found here.