Soccer Extreme : Spanish giants Barcelona have announced the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal in football history - worth £125m.The Catalan giants have previously refused shirt deals. For the past five years, they have been the ones paying international children's charity Unicef for the right to sport their logo on their chests.
However, the club's current sizeable debts mean they are no longer in a position to turn down valuable income.
Their link-up with the Qatar Foundation is worth £25m a year from next season through to 2016 and could free up funds for coach Pep Guardiola to spend on new faces.
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".
The Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organisation which has projects focusing on education, scientific research and community development. It was founded by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in 1995.
Its involvement with Barca is another sign of Qatar's growing commitment to football and follows on from FIFA's decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the emirate.
"With this agreement, Barca have become the undisputed brand leader in world football, far ahead of international rivals," said one of the club's vice-presidents, Javier Faus.
A summer audit into Barcelona's finances revealed the club's debt stood at 442m euros (£369.5m) after a loss of more than 77m euros (£64.36m) last season.
The previous board, led by Joan Laporta, had announced the club was 11m euros in the black at the end of June.
But a new audit carried out for new president Sandro Rosell revealed a far less healthy scenario. (mirrorfutball)