CHAPTER 94: UNICEFCB

" Més que un club. "

It is done.
Joan Laporta and his team already sealed the deal with UNICEF. From now on (for the next five years that is), the shirt of Futbol Club Barcelona will now have the UNICEF logo emblazoned on it.

Never before in the 107 history of the club, has the shirt of the football club ever had any image of such kind (company logos,…etc.) been adorned on the shirt. The tradition…..will now cease to ‘exist’ when Barcelona begin the defense of the European Cup this coming Tuesday at Camp Nou against Levski Sofia (the first match to kick off the Champions League).

………mixed reactions definitely. IMO, having UNICEF is the best thing to do if the tradition was to be broken. It will definitely be better for the club to have the shirt tainted for the first ever time with a logo of UNICEF, instead of the previously proposed Olympics ‘Beijing 2008’ or the betting company ‘Bet&Win’
(and I believe no such deal like this had been struck before by any club).

Anyhow, what’s done is done. The shirt sponsorship was always one of the agendas of Joan Laporta since he ran for presidency of the club, as one of the means to help the club get rid of the grave financial debt that the club had been in that time, and the socios voted for him and agreed with it.
It’s definitely mixed reactions. Some applauds it, some don’t, preferring that the tradition lives on.

Although it must be said that the deal done is a good deal (Barca providing financial means to UNICEF), it also raises some concerns from some Barcelonistas. There are some from Xtratime who felt that this move by Laporta is just a stepping stone for the club to eventually get a real shirt sponsorship deal in the future. It does bring mixed perceptions and opinions.

Whatever it is, the moment would be one of the most historic days of the club.
Visca el Barca.

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