# Should FC Barcelona accept sponsorship from the Qatar Foundation?



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Barcelona football club recently accepted a lucrative sponsorship deal from the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit body founded by the Emir of Qatar in 1995 to promote education, community development and scientific research in the Middle East. 

The Israeli government have objected to this, saying that QF sends funds to the Hamas government in Gaza, whom they regard as a terrorist organisation, and also supports La Unión del Bien, who organise shipments of aid to Gaza (one of which was boarded by Israeli troops earlier this year, killing 9 people).

Should Barça hold their ground? Should they accept sponsorship at all? This is the first time they have done so - they currently wear the UNICEF logo and donate money to that cause.

Israel presiona al Barça para que suspenda su acuerdo con Qatar · ELPAÍS.com


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

Is there a proof that this non-profit organisation has ties to any paramilitary organisation? It wouldn't be the first time the Israeli government makes a fuzz where it's totally unneeded. I support the two-state solution so it's not like I am against Israel (and not against Palestine neither) but fact is that Israel is currently stuck with a very wrong right-wing government lead by racist Netanyahu. Do they have any proof about the Qatari organisation's ties with any paramilitary organisation?


It is IMO a pity that Barça gives up a tradition as old as the club itself to not accept paid sponsorship on the shirts (although in a way the little **** logo on the shirts can be seen as very well hidden existing advertising on the shirts). On the other hand this is modern football, sadly enough. It has become a commerce. Just walk through the streets of Barcelona and see how much FC Barcelona is already commercialised. You can buy FCB fridges, FCB bed sets, FCB dishes and cups, FCB-logo esque candy, FCB postcards, ... "Més que un club" indeed: it's a company  Their basketball outfit which is highly succesful already has shirt sponsoring for a long time (even using the name of the sponsor in the club name: Regal FC Barcelona) so it's in fact only the football outfit that did not have paid sponsors yet, FC Barcelona as a whole long accepted sponsorship deals. So well, in fact to accept it for the football team's shirts as well isn't such a big step really.

It is odd to say but Espanyol is far more non-commercial than Barça, despite the Unicef deals. Just live in Barcelona for a while and you see what I mean. In every little corner you see Barça-related items and memorabilia, it's a money machine. I have lived in BCN for nearly 1.5 years now and still have not seen a single Espanyol shop, whereas Barça has several shops spread across the city. The tickets are expensive, being a socio as well.

I am not trying to blackmail Barça here, just saying that it's not because the football team has not yet had a paid shirt sponsor before, this doesn't mean at all that FC Barcelona has not walked the paths of commercialism long before. Espanyol is much more low-profile when it comes to selling itself.

The true guilty people are FIFA and UEFA who turned the beautiful sport in a business. I have been at Old Trafford once (supporting the visiting team as I don't exactly like Manchester Utd) and they even had Man U creditcards and a Man U banking branch  Some clubs have casinos and shopping mails built in in their stadium. This all has nothing to do anymore with football. The Champions League is the best example of how the sport sold its soul. In the past only domestic champions could enter and it was a great honour to participate, now big and wealthy clubs are protected in the draws to ensure that they would not be eliminated in an early stage, to be sure the sponsors remain happy.

If we want football in its pure form, the solution is easy: go to your barrio team in the amateur leagues. It's good fun  I have watched my barrio team already 3x this season. OK, only 150 spectators, and the level isn't that high, but these guys play for the honour and love of the game with hardly any money involved. That is the real football. Yesterday I went to see the ladies' team of my barrio for the first time. It was a pleasure to see these girls play purely out of love for the game, not a single one trying to fool the referee, not a single one diving or faking injuries, ... a fairplay unseen in professional football.

If we want the top teams to stray from the commercial paths as well, then we need to put salary caps and reform the European cups back to the old format with a Champions League for champions, a Cup Winners Cup, and a UEFA Cup for vice-champions and thirds.

Until we go back to the true core of the sport, away from commerce, you cannot really blame any club for joining in and trying to cash in. So who can blame Barça for this sponsorship deal when every other club in Europe would have done exactly the same? To get back to club traditions, football as a whole will need to be reformed.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

gerrit said:


> Is there a proof that this non-profit organisation has ties to any paramilitary organisation? It wouldn't be the first time the Israeli government makes a fuzz where it's totally unneeded. I support the two-state solution so it's not like I am against Israel (and not against Palestine neither) but fact is that Israel is currently stuck with a very wrong right-wing government lead by racist Netanyahu. Do they have any proof about the Qatari organisation's ties with any paramilitary organisation?


The article doesn't say whether they have any proof. But Hamas is not only a military organisation; according to Wikipedia, it spends 90% of its estimated $70 annual revenues on welfare projects - schools, hospitals, sports, community development etc - which is in line with the QF's goals. So it wouldn't be surprising if they received QF funding.

I don't endorse terrorism in any shape or form but in my opinion companies like N1ke and Adidas, whose logos appear on sports shirts across the globe, are guilty of some pretty questionable activities too, with their exploitation of cheap labour in the developing world.

Yes, in an ideal world corporate sponsorship would be unnecessary. It will be interesting to see Barça´s response.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

Should FC Barcelona accept sponsorship from the Qata Foundation?

Absolutely Not! And I hope that they don't... and if they do, I hope Unicef refuses to share its good name and reputation with Qatar's foundation in the players tshirts. IT would be a shame

It's not that I hate Qataris, I don't hate anyone let alone an entire nation of people, but I lived in Qatar from the beginning of 2005 till the end of 2007 and have witenessed how the Qatari goverment sistematically allows and encourages for the human rights of its citiciens and expatriate community to be violated.
Unless things have changed since I left, a qatari that suffers from AIDS will be jailed. THere is no religius freedom and it is a criminal offence to practice hinduism (for expample) in public... 
They openly encourage slavery, they bring all those Nepali construction workers and make them live in inhuman contitions, sometimes they don't pay them and they have no rights whatsoever, they aren't even allowed to enter the shooping malls for god's sake! Household staff mistreatment and even toruture is a common occurrence. Since inbreeding is common in their culture, there are several cases of disability amongst its population, but you don't see them, they are hidden away... I can go on and on. 

Enters Qatar Foundation. Since they are unable to clean up their own backyard, they create an organisation that (it says) vows for the human and educational development. which It probably does, and they want the world to know about it.. You see qatar Foundation holding debates every week in the BBC world, you constantily hear about their achievement in some poor african country....Blah...LIke in most Gulf countries, this is their facade... Is their way to show off, to try to make things a little right. After all they have the money to buy anything.. 

What a hypocrital world, Unicef and QF sharing the same tshirt. I hope it doesn't happen.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Dizzie Izzie said:


> Should FC Barcelona accept sponsorship from the Qata Foundation?
> 
> Absolutely Not! And I hope that they don't... and if they do, I hope Unicef refuses to share its good name and reputation with Qatar's foundation in the players tshirts. IT would be a shame
> 
> ...


Thanks Diz, for throwing some light on this. Of course, we only see the propaganda they want us to see.

But UNICEF are apparently happy to share the Barça shirt with QF, so maybe they are doing something right? After all, if there is going to be change, somebody has to take the first steps.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> Thanks Diz, for throwing some light on this. Of course, we only see the propaganda they want us to see.
> 
> But UNICEF are apparently happy to share the Barça shirt with QF, so maybe they are doing something right? After all, if there is going to be change, somebody has to take the first steps.


Yes, Unicef needs donations. Barca needs money. Qatar needs reputation. And since Qatar has loads and loads of money to spare, it is all a happy partnership. 

I guess money can buy anything these days.


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

It is not because one is from a dictatorship or country with human rights violations, that one also is involved in those violations. Maybe this non-profit is dedicated to bring change to Qatari laws and qatari society? I don't know, I am not saying they are, I am saying they may be... I just wanna say: it's not because this society is from a country with limited human rights that they are involved with any of the human rights violations that happen there. Otherwise it's like saying that every citizen of a country is guilty of anything their government does wrong. I'm sure there's lots of good people and good organisations even in the countries with the worst regimes... We should never just associate one person or one organisation with whatever regime their country happens to have, the two are not necessarily linked. I hope Barça has researched this properly before signing the deal.

Other than that, the US has quite a bad human rights record (death penalty, propaganda in the media, invasions in other countries, ...) but that doesn't mean any American company or organisation that may sponsor a team would be bad. Russia is still far from the liberalised country it likes to claim it is, but does that mean not a single Russian company should be considered as a sponsor? China's government is not exactly kosher neither, Israel is occupying territories for ages ... but in those countries you'll find several non-profits that have exactly the target of changing things for the better. 

I just hope that Barça researched this properly. *If* the organisation that will sponsor them is kosher itself, then there is no reason to mistrust them just because of the fact that the government of their country is doing some rather dodgy things.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

gerrit said:


> It is not because one is from a dictatorship or country with human rights violations, that one also is involved in those violations. Maybe this non-profit is dedicated to bring change to Qatari laws and qatari society? I don't know, I am not saying they are, I am saying they may be... I just wanna say: it's not because this society is from a country with limited human rights that they are involved with any of the human rights violations that happen there. Otherwise it's like saying that every citizen of a country is guilty of anything their government does wrong. I'm sure there's lots of good people and good organisations even in the countries with the worst regimes... We should never just associate one person or one organisation with whatever regime their country happens to have, the two are not necessarily linked. I hope Barça has researched this properly before signing the deal.
> 
> Other than that, the US has quite a bad human rights record (death penalty, propaganda in the media, invasions in other countries, ...) but that doesn't mean any American company or organisation that may sponsor a team would be bad. Russia is still far from the liberalised country it likes to claim it is, but does that mean not a single Russian company should be considered as a sponsor? China's government is not exactly kosher neither, Israel is occupying territories for ages ... but in those countries you'll find several non-profits that have exactly the target of changing things for the better.
> 
> I just hope that Barça researched this properly. *If* the organisation that will sponsor them is kosher itself, then there is no reason to mistrust them just because of the fact that the government of their country is doing some rather dodgy things.


"It is not because one is from a dictatorship or country with human rights violations, that one also is involved in those violations" Absolutely!

I totally agree with what you are saying but it is difficult to separate Qatar Foundation from the Qatari Goverment mainly because, like everything in Qatar, QF is owned, founded and run by the Qatari ruling family. I believe that when you want changes, one has to start changing the things that you are responsible for and causing in the first place.

Re reading my previous post I realise that I was wrong when I said that they help in some poor african country. This is false, as far as I know. Qatar Foundation created the program "Reach out to Asia" which claims to have helped in crisis in Pakistan, Gaza, Indonesia and Lebanon. (http://www.qf.org.qa/files/Direct/PDFQF fact sheet ENG(25_5_2009_6_40_356).pdf) 
Looking back, I remeber now that they got lots of credit for providing help and funds to Pakistan when the floods ocurred a few years back (I happened to be in Qatar at the time), which is great. However it must be noted that "Reach out to Asia" has been linked to Terrorist training centers in the above mentioned countries. I obviously have no idea if this is true or just bad rumours. 

I


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

I don't really know the organisation, hence I didn't want to speak out about it. I just pointed out that a government violating human rights, does not mean every organisation in that country is involved with that. For example we all agree (I hope) that the Israeli government is violating human rights on high scale within the Gaza Strip. I however met lot of Israelis who highly disagree with this themselves and feel ashamed about their government, some of them are involved in Israeli non-profit organisations dedicated to deliver food and other forms of aid to Palestine. Just one of the many examples showing that one has to make a distinction between an organisation and the government of the country it comes from. By that I am not saying Qatar Foundation is good or bad, I don't know them well ; I just say we shouldn't judge before knowing all facts just because they happen to be from Qatar.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

IThat's a really good point Gerrit, but Qatar is really a very tiny country where everything is run by the Royal Family, including Qatar Foundation.

QFoundation is Qatars presentation card. It is the image that they want to show. Proof enough is that if it was some great non profit of dogooders it wouldn't have the petrodollars to sign the most lucrative sponsorship deal to date.


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

Well, even then, I fear in present day football idealism never lasts long. One of the reasons why I much enjoy the amateur leagues with my local barrio team, is that these players just play for fun and for the love of the game. Professional football is polluted by commercial interests. The Champions League is an excellent example. Plenty of teams have sponsorship deals with mala fide companies. I fear it will take a revolution within the football world to get back to a situation where the sport is what really matters rather than the money


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