Barcelona steps up financial commitment under renewed Unicef partnership

Spanish Liga football club Barcelona has enhanced its financial commitment to Unicef by agreeing a four-year extension of its partnership with the United Nations children’s fund.

The current agreement between the two parties was due to expire this year, but will now run through to 2020, it was announced today (Thursday). In what is their 10th year of working together, Barcelona will increase its annual donation to the charity from €1.5m ($1.65m) to €2m.

Unicef’s logo currently appears on the back of Barcelona’s shirt, having previously occupied the prime space on the front of the kit. Qatar Airways took over as the club’s new global partner and main shirt sponsor in 2013-14, with its current contract due to expire at the end of the 2015-16 campaign.

Barcelona first announced in November 2012 that the airline would take over as the club’s shirt sponsor from the 2013-14 season as part of its agreement with Qatar Sports Investments. Barcelona’s five-year contract signed with QSI permitted the possibility of including a new logo on the shirt from the third season of the agreement.

The Qatar Foundation had served as the club’s shirt sponsor for the first two campaigns, succeeding Unicef, which became the first brand to occupy Barcelona’s famous shirts in September 2006.

From 2006 to 2010, Barcelona and Unicef have worked in Swaziland, Malawi and Angola in the awareness, detection and prevention of HIV/aids. From 2011, the work has been focused on South Africa, Ghana, Brazil and China, using sport as an educational tool.