Some drama behind the scenes in Spain as Barcelona are set to lose the biggest sponsorship deal in the club’s history, to their own league.
Qatar Airways are coming to the end of a their £28m-a-season deal with the club and Barcelona thought they had a new £47m-a-season deal with Qatar Airways all-but signed but the Qataris stalled last October and the clock is now ticking towards the end of the season with Barça potentially without a sponsor.
Barcelona are talking to other potential sponsors but none is likely to reach the £47m the club believed they would receive from Qatar.
Barça have already given the order to Nike to start making their shirts for next season without a sponsor while hoping that eventually they can reach an agreement with Qatar.
But according to Diario AS, with the negotiations between Qatar and Barcelona on hold, La Liga has stepped in and trying to get the Qataris to replace the bank BBVA as the league’s main sponsor.
BBVA had been paying the league £18.5m-a-season since 2013 but League head Javier Tebas could potentially top that with Qatar.
Barcelona’s president Josep María Bartomeu has repeatedly spoken about Barca’s financial issues, and even a club this size will be impacted by missing out on a £47m sponsorship opportunity.