9 Feb 2011

Barcelona to drop UNICEF

7:14 pm on 9 February 2011

The Spanish football side Barcelona will drop the UNICEF logo from the front of their shirts from July and replace it with the name of their new Qatari sponsor.

The Spanish champions are one of the few clubs in world football not to have a corporate logo on their shirts, instead displaying the name of the United Nations Children's Fund, for which they pay the organisation $3 million a year.

However, they last month agreed a record five-year sponsorship deal with Qatar Sports Investment worth $60 million a season.

Barcelona officials say the injection of funds at a delicate time for the club's finances was necessary to pay for the development of their team.