Barcelona in record £125m shirt deal as Qatar buy their way into football

10 December 2010 20:28
[LNB]Barcelona have swallowed their pride and cashed in on a world record £125million shirt sponsorship deal. [LNB]After years of bucking the trend to donate £1.5m each season and promote UNICEF, the children's fund will have to share the iconic jersey with the Qatar Foundation from next season. [LNB] World famous: Xavi sports Barcelona's iconic strip[LNB]The decision to sign a £25m-a-year deal has drawn a mixed response from fans who took pride in their altruistic endeavours, but comes at a time when the club have amassed £370m debts, which forced them to abandon a bid for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas after the World Cup. [LNB]Get the latest world football news and views on Twitter[LNB] Although the Qatar Foundation is also a not-for-profit educational body, it was set up by the Gulf emirate's royal family and will be seen as an attempt to boost their footballing credentials. [LNB]Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup with Pep Guardiola as an ambassador and the Barcelona coach will head into contract talks witha considerably wealthier Barca in the next few weeks after being linkedto the Chelsea and Inter Milan jobs. [LNB]Barcelona's five-year deal tops Manchester United and Liverpool's £20m-a-year shirt deals with Aon and Standard Chartered respectively. [LNB] Gold rush: Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned - head of the Qatar Foundation - holds the World Cup in Zurich last week alongside her husband Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and FIFA president Sepp Blatter (right)[LNB]Nou Camp vice-president Javier Faus said: 'With this agreement, Barcahave become the undisputed brand leader in world football, far ahead oftheir international rivals.' [LNB]The agreement also includes a commitment for Barca to play one friendly per season, not necessarily in Qatar, and the Qatar Foundation will take part in joint projects with UNICEF and the club's own foundation.[LNB] Pick Harry or Sam! Capello tips English duo to replace him as national bossWe need the money! Barca consider shirt sponsor for the first time everTime is now: Man City sense chance to sign £35m Barca defender Dani AlvesMessi, Iniesta and Xavi deliver Barca clean sweep on Ballon d'Or shortlistGet the latest world football news and views with Twitter[LNB] [LNB]  Explore more:People: Cesc Fabregas Places: Liverpool, Barcelona, Qatar Organisations: United Nations International Children ' s Emergency Fund

Source: Daily_Mail