Last night, FC Barcelona signed a sponsorship deal with Qatar Foundation. It marks the first time that FCB has had a paid sponsorship on their jersey. The deal lasts 5 years and is worth 150 million euros. The new jersey will have the Qatar Foundation logo as well as the UNICEF logo. UNICEF became the teams first ever sponsor back in 2006, but FCB also contributes 1.5 million euros per year as part of the deal with them. This marks the first time in the clubs 111 year history that they will be paid to advertise. It is also the new richest sponsorship in all of Football, beating out Manchester United and Liverpool.
The deal was controversial for two reasons. First being that FCB has always been unique in the fact that they don’t have paid sponsors. This made some people upset, feeling like FCB “sold their soul”. However, the team was in enormous debt and needed some way to pay it off. The second reason that the deal was controversial is because it is with Qatar Foundation. Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development is a private organization with aims at improving those fields within the borders of the state of Qatar. It was started by the President of Qatar in 1995 and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned. Al Missned was one of the women involved in the recent World Cup bidding. Some wonder how sponsoring FCB would be more beneficial for the Qatar Foundation than just giving the 150 million to themselves. I cannot seem to understand it either.
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