Barcelona have ended their 111-year history of refusing commercial shirt sponsorship by signing a record £125m deal with the Qatar Foundation.
The Catalan giants have paid to carry the Unicef logo for the last five years and the children’s charity will share shirt space with the new sponsors.
Barcelona have a sizeable debt but now claim to be “the undisputed brand leader in world football”.
The deal will be worth £25m a year from next season through until 2016.
In July, an audit revealed Barcelona’s debt to be £369.5m after a loss of more than £64.36m in the 2009/10 season.
The new sponsorship arrangement could free up some transfer funds for coach Pep Guardiola – who worked as an ambassador for Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
The Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organisation concerned primarily with education projects in the Middle East.
It is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, the wife of the Emir, who was central to Qatar’s final World Cup bid last week.
Senior club executives said the deal was a “remarkable milestone because it represents a record level of revenue for a football club and has more value still in the current economic climate”.
Manchester United and Real Madrid both earn a little over £20m a year for their rights, while Bayern Munich make closer to £23m.
Marketing experts will seek to find a way for both logos to be displayed on the Barcelona shirts, although if that is not possible the Unicef name will take priority.
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