Her Highness Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned—Head of the Qatar Foundation—poses with some trophy next to some chubby white moron
Ahh, the mes que un club. Humanitarians, aesthetes, propagators of the beautiful game… and now committing a full U-turn on their shirt sponsorship policy.
Since the beginning of time, Barcelona have eschewed traditional shirt sponsors in favour of charitable donations of chest space (and £1.5m a year) to UNICEF. The humanitarian fund will still get real estate on the blaugrana kit, but they’ll be ceding the prime real estate to the Qatar Foundation, Barca’s first-ever paying shirt sponsor.
The cost? £125m over five seasons.
But what’s the real cost? You know, the metaphorical cost.
Bah, like I should be so dramatic.
It’s a simple, obvious deal covering a number of bases for both sides.
We should have seen this coming
The Qatar 2022 billboards daubed around the Nou Camp at the recent El Clasico were the first step. We know that both Barca pres Sandro Rosell and manager Pep Guardiola were involved in helping the Qatar bid, so call this a little fiscal goodwill directed back at the club, albeit through rosier, more PR-friendly channels. There’s also the work and investment in a Barca-esque soccer academy in Qatar, founded by the man who discovered Lionel Messi at age 13 and funded by the club in one form or another.
Plus, the whole practice of exchanging envelopes in moonlit alleyways is so antiquated.
It still allows Barcelona to show their philanthropic side
The Qatar Foundation is one of the more progressive, altruistic entities in the state, working hard in “education, scientific research, and community development,” in keeping with Barca’s support of “good” organizations. The origin of the not-for-profit’s largesse is still curious, but we’ll all forget in time. This is business, though for Barca, it’s business with a UNICEF-esque fledgling. If Blatter’s narrative is warm and fuzzy, this is equally so for Rosell and co.
Barca’s finances clearly need some help
We’ve known for a while that the big La Liga clubs have relied a bit on those timely, no-strings-attached bank loans, much like the ones extended to Barcelona in July after reports of their ledger looking rather “worrying.” A deal like this definitely strips some of the sheen from the club’s veneer, but it’ll help them begin yet another endless serenade for Cesc Fabregas. You know, because we all loved it first time around, and the time after that.
Qatar could use the extra PR
I can still hear the gnashing of teeth from some media folk about the way the World Cup bids played out, but now more than ever, a nice bit of news involving the World Cup 2022 hosts couldn’t come quickly enough. Barcelona are one of world soccer’s biggest brands, and though some take umbrage with their posturing, this still looks good to the vast majority of people.
In short, this deal allows all sides to look good. I could chuckle quietly to myself about how the head of the Qatar Foundation—Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned—is also Qatar’s first lady, hence the money, but what good would that do, eh? It’s far too early for cynicism. Soccer’s great!
The Qatar Foundation is one of the more progressive, altruistic entities in the state
Kind of like being Miss Akron right?
It still counts for something.
Not sure what the big deal is. I’m sure quite a few not-for-profit charitable foundations have £125m lying around for marketing.
@Ryan: I’ll not have you disparage the good name of Northeast Ohio!
@goat that’s the most troubling thing to me. a non-profit educational outfit has that sitting around in the marketing budget?
FCB was eventually going to sell out. a plank of rosell’s election campaign basically said as much. this just feels so dirty.
Considering that the Head of the Qatar Foundation is also the Emir’s wife, the money seems fairly easy to source. Or at least, the inference is there.
@Ryan: The Black Keys and my Nana are both from Akron. But yeah, other than that, that place sucks.
Didn’t mean to offend the good people of Akron. I’m sure it’s lovely this time of year.
@Goat: NE Ohio HAS a good name?
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/Originally from Jersey.
So it’s a GONGO. There are a lot of those out there.
Wasn’t Zizou influential in promoting the Qatar bid? Seems like Real would have been the choice for kit sponsorship rather than Barca, that royalty thing and all.
@OM – Both Zidane and Pep schlepped for Qatar. Pep got his club 125m over 5 years. Zidane got 15m. I wonder if he feels like headbutting someone now? But either way, they paid to play (and knew who it was worthwhile to play with – the best). Zidane’s RM connections has little to do with the big picture here methinks.
Qatar is so progressive it lets its powerful women drive their Bentleys over guest workers without punishment. LIBERALIZATION!
I’m from Youngstown and pretty much all of Northeast Ohio sucks. But only we’re allowed to say that!
@Georger – no. She has a guest worker who drives her Bently for her. Duh.
p.s. I remembered that day how well-dressed the princess was…to make having to show no skin look good. Except the pleated pants. Please! We’ve been working for years to get men out of them – WTF is a woman doing in them!??!
Pleated pants make a fat guy look like he killed two skinny guys and stitched their pants together. I do that all the time though.
Brilliant! They only waited a week. Mes que un club, indeed.
The Princess does look nice. She must be lucky the prince has a harem, since it looks like he might suffocate her when he climbs on top.
Procul Harum > Qatar
I thought she was a flight attendant.
mes qatar un club
I just hope this gives Barca lovers a little pause the next time they launch into their “We’re so special, we donate to charity, we grow our own players, we’re not like RM, we’re….” diatribes. Fun little tidbit, Messi (the first person referenced in the Barca “we grow our own players, so we’re really special and not evil” spiels) moved because River Plate couldn’t afford his hormone treatments, according to wikipedia.
Well, it’s true. Barca does grow their own players. Ha ha ha. See, b/c Messi was on growth hormones…. Bah.
Wow, what a great amount of bile -on the article and on comments-. It’s dramatic: Barça puts an sponsor on its shirt. Oh my God, world’s end has arrived early.
“Ahh, the mes que un club. Humanitarians, aesthetes, propagators of the beautiful game… and now committing a full U-turn on their shirt sponsorship policy.”
It’s not a team decision but a Club decision. To put publicity on the shirt doesn’t not mean Barça does not practice a fantastic way of playing. You’re manipulating and misinformating here.
But I know all that jazz you’re saying has a clear background: World Cup. “We know that both Barca pres Sandro Rosell and manager Pep Guardiola were involved in helping the Qatar bid, so call this a little fiscal goodwill directed back at the club, albeit through rosier, more PR-friendly channels” is what you think, but not truth.
And you, the people on comments. What about the infamous hormone treatment? Are you impliying dopping? Why the case was not investigated? Because it’s not dopping neither it’s illegal. I’m sorry for all of you who cannot enjoy Barça’s football and instead does some stupid criticism without arguments -because is sooo stupid to think that Messi is the wonderful player he is thanks to the treatment-. I see some whitey color here, but to me is not new, is something that we -Barça supporters- have been putting up for “many, many years” -Topol dixit-.
Thanks, Handful. And what a Handful! I even noted above that it’s simple business decision. And while the dissonance might be considered “misinformation” by you, it’s still a little dissonant.
And the Rosell/Guardiola help with the bid has been documented, so I think I’m free to interpret that.
Not saying doping. My point was this– a lot of Barca fans, hopefully not you Handful, roll around with this “holier than though” narrative about the greatness of Barca. Usually, it is to set themselves apart from Real or Chelsea or other clubs that “buy wins.” This narrative almost always is flavored with things like “We’re not a successful club because we buy players or because we’re rich. Just look at how charitable we are with our shirt sponsorship. Just look at how all our great players come from our youth program. The overwhelming goodness of the Barca way of playing is what allows our light to shine in the football darkness. Not money.” To be sure, there is a lot of truth to that story. But the reality is not near the biblical incantations of some Barca fans, so it’s nice to see them “slumming” it with the rest of us. Schadenfreude.