Barca working up a sweat over new Nike kit

RUMOURS OF dressing room dramas are nothing new in top-tier football but the latest saga has lifted the lid on the cosy relationship between FC Barcelona and the club’s kit manufacturer. Nike’s $120,000,000 deal with one of Europe’s top teams has resulted in the opening of the brand’s most successful retail outlet at the Nou Camp and shirt sales have been boosted by a change from UNICEF to new front-of-shirt sponsors the Qatar Foundation. But rumours of a strain in relations between Nike and Barca have surfaced as players are reported to be unhappy with their new playing outfits. The special “pitch shirts” made exclusively for the team were designed to boost performance but the latest version has brought complaints that it is doing the opposite according to embarrassed Barcelona officials. It seems the kit retains moisture rapidly turning it into a heavy, clinging skin. Players have even started weighing the shirts at half time to highlight the increase in weight claims the local El Pais newspaper. Nike was recently summoned to a closed-doors meeting with the club and has agreed to work to rectify the problem.