Barcelona, Unicef deepen 10 years relationship

Spanish football club FC Barcelona have announced that they will continue to display the logo of the United Nations children’s charity (Unicef) on the back of their shirts for a further four years.

As part of the extension, the five-time European champions will pay an increased sum of €2 million (US$2.2 million) a season to aid Unicef projects worldwide as well as the offer of free advertising.

Barcelona and Unicef first joined forces in 2006 and the club’s star player Lionel Messi is one of the fund's global goodwill ambassadors. The club previously had the Unicef name on the front of their shirts, and prior to that they were one of the few sides in world soccer not to display a corporate logo. However, they agreed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) in 2012.

According to the latest Deloitte Money League rankings, the Spanish champions are the second most valuable sports team in the world, worth €2.8 billion (US$3.16 billion), and the world's second richest soccer club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €560.8 million (US$618 million).