It took Barcelona 112 years to get into the cash business. One of the club’s most famous trademarks was not having a corporate sponsor on the shirt, something pretty much non-existent in European football. They did always have the kit manufacturer on the shirt, but nothing bigger. All about the team, the colors, Catalunia, ideology and what not.

In 2006 Barcelona finally put a logo on their shirt – UNICEF. The club actually paid the orginization money, donating money. Well, it wasn’t exactly the club giving out money to UNICEF. The club opened a foundation that got people to invest large ammounts of money that will go into a non-profit orginization and in return becoming an honorary member.

Well, 2011, and all that is over. From next year, Barcelona will be recieving 30 million Euros each year from the Qatar Foundation, finally having an actual Sponsor paying for the right to appear on the Barca uniform. There have been certain complaints when the news started circulating a few months ago about Barcelona choosing this particular sponsor despite accusations of them supporting terror groups in the middle east. Well, first of all, to my knowledge, there isn’t any solid proof. Plus, well, so much money, with Barcelona’s financial problems and the constant competition for the best player with Real Madrid and other clubs can’t make you too picky.

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