Search the Community

Barcelona sell shirt sponsorship for the first time as Qatar Foundation pay £125m to share space with Unicef Barcelona will sell sponsorship space on their shirts for the first time in the 2011-12 season, after agreeing a £125m five-year deal with the Qatar Foundation that becomes the most expensive deal of its kind in football. By Steve Wilson 10:45AM GMT 10 Dec 2010 Until as recently as 2005 Barcelona’s famous shirt bore no logo as they eschewed the chance to profit from sponsors. For the last five years the club has actually paid for the privilege of having the name of Unicef, the international children’s charity, on their shirts, in a deal that to many reaffirmed Barcelona’s status as ‘mes que un club’, as they like to describe themselves. However, the economic realities of modern football, and the impending financial fair play rules for European competition, appear to have caught up with the Catalans and the deal struck with the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organisation concerned primarily with education projects in the Middle East, far exceeds anything commanded by other major European clubs. Manchester United and Real Madrid both earn a little over £20m a year for their rights while Bayern Munich make closer to £23m. "With this agreement, Barca have become the undisputed brand leader in world football, far ahead of international rivals," said vice-presidents Javier Faus. The logo of the Qatar Foundation, which is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, the wife of the Emir, who was central to Qatar’s final presentation to Fifa when the tiny gas-rich Gulf state won the right to host the 2022 World Cup finals last week, will share space on Barca’s kit with the current Unicef logo. Senior club executives said the deal was a “remarkable milestone because it represents a record level of revenue for a football club and has more value still in the current economic climate”. Can't see the fans being happy with this one but then again they are skint.