Barcelona have signed a record €150 million shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation, ending their long term refusal to enter into a commercial shirt sponsorship agreement.
Barcelona have actually paid to carry the Unicef logo for the last five years and the children’s charity will now share shirt space with the new sponsors.
The deal will be worth €30 million a year from next season through until 2016 and will certainly help the club’s finances, their debts being in the region of €400 million. The 2009/10 season saw them lose around €70 million.
This new arrangement could free up some transfer funds for coach Pep Guardiola who, incidentally, worked as an ambassador for Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
The Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organisation concerned mainly with education projects in the Middle East.