Barcelona continue to negotiate with Qatar Airways as they look to come to an agreement over the continued sponsorship of the club’s shirt. Vice-president Manel Arroyo and commercial director Francesco Calvo travelled to Doha on Wednesday to meet with directors of QSI (Qatar Sports Investments) to work on the new deal’s conditions. The current terms with Qatar Airways expire in June of this year.
Barça want to use their success on the field to ensure they are paid more than any other club in the world for the sponsorship of their shirt. They hope to conclude a deal which will see them paid around 60 million euros for their match-day shirts, leaving them free to find other sponsors for the training kit.
Arroyo and Calvo’s trip to Doha means that the recent information suggesting talks between the two parties had broken down were false. On the contrary, in fact, the Blaugrana’s relationship with their sponsor remains excellent and their only concern is signing a contract which will help them in their aim of hitting 1,000 million euros in revenue within six years. The naming of the stadium (a surname for Camp Nou) and a new contract with Nike are the other pending deals which will help them achieve this number.
Alarm bells had been ringing on Wednesday when Bayern Munich announced a partnership with Hamad International Airport-Qatar for 15 million euros annually. This agreement, though, will not modify Qatar Airways intentions to continue as Barcelona’s sponsor. It also dismisses the rumours that QSI will only invest in the club which they own, French champions Paris Saint-Germain.