The last domino has finally fallen.
Today, FC Barcelona announced that it was for modern football... er... selling advertising space on its renowned blaugrana jerseys.
The new renters of the prime real estate? None other than the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization that was formed "to bolster education, science and development of the tiny gulf state."
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The Catalan club had for decades famously refused to sell space on its shirts, while competitors raked in millions of dollars by sporting the logo of whichever company was the highest bidder. Barça even went one step further in recent times, allowing UNICEF to be the first third-party logo ever to be placed on its jerseys, and actually paying the charity for the right to do so.
Barcelona’s financial vice president Javier Faus said that the $200 million (U.S.) deal with the Qatari outfit will not eliminate its existing arrangement with UNICEF... unless of course it cannot be done. In other words, if the Qatar Foundation doesn't approve of Barcelona's proposed "combined" UNICEF/QF logo design, then the money wins out.
It always does.