As the weight of their potentially crippling debt sinks in, Barcelona have signed a five-year, €150 million ($200 million) deal with the non-profit Qatar Foundation for shared space with UNICEF as the club's shirt sponsors. UNICEF became the club's first ever shirt sponsor in 2006, but Barcelona contributes €1.5 million annually to the organization as part of the deal. This deal with the Qatar Foundation marks the first time in the club's 111-year history that it has been paid to advertise on their shirts.
Barcelona said the UNICEF name will remain on the shirts and that it would seek a way to combine the two logos, but the Qatar Foundation would be the prevalent one if a solution cannot be found.
The club said the deal could be worth up to 170 million euro ($225 million) with add-ons.
“With this deal, Barcelona places itself as the indisputable brand leader in world football ahead of our international competitors,” Barcelona’s financial vice president Javier Faus said Friday.
Barcelona previously flirted with deals but this marks the first time in the Catalan team’s 111-year history it will be paid to advertise.
Barcelona will receive €30 million per season, topping previous record holders Manchester United and Liverpool by a wide margin.
What's odd about this deal is that the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development is a private organization with aims at improving those fields within the borders of the state. It was started by the Emir of Qatar in 1995 and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, one of the few women to take part in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, serves as chairperson. Given the nature of the foundation (as opposed to the international cause of UNICEF), it's hard not to wonder how sponsoring a Spanish football club will help its stated cause or why it wouldn't be more beneficial to just pump that €150-170 million directly into the foundation.
Coincidentally, Barca manager Pep Guardiola was a paid ambassador for Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid, while club president Sandro Rosell has been a vocal proponent of the development of a Qatari football academy styled after Barcelona's.
Amidst rampant speculation over possible backroom deals, whether Qatar is capable of hosting, and the environmental impact of its plan, there are bound to be conspiracy theories that follow this announcement. But regardless of that, Barcelona once again proved they're "more than a club." Like everyone else with a shirt sponsor, they're also now a propaganda tool.
