Barcelona lose €25m over sponsor indecision

Qatar Airways will sponsor Barcelona for another season after the two parties were able to come to an agreement, but the Catalan club’s delay in committing to the deal has cost them €25 million.

According to the Blaugrana’s announcement, the 2016/17 sponsorship will follow the same conditions as last season, which totals a payment of €35m.Yet director Javier Faus had come to an agreement with the airline at the end of last season to renew for €60m, a contract which was never signed given Barcelona’s hesitation over extending the partnership.

Having then considered other options, the La Liga champions ultimately opted for a further year of wearing the Arab brand on the front of their shirts, although this deal allows greater flexibility regarding future sponsorships.At the moment, it seems that Amazon is the frontrunner to become the team’s main sponsor from 2017/18.