This revelation from the Spanish press agency EFE, relayed last week by the site, is an incredible stone thrown into the pond. Sports. The famous historic deal concluded in 2016 between Nike and the FC Barcelona would ultimately never have been signed. At least not in a formal and official way.

Linked since 1998 and until 2018, the two entities decided in 2016 to renew their collaboration for ten years – i.e. until 2028 – with an annual budget of 150 million euros (maximum). A pharaonic sponsorship contract that was to ensure a bright day for the Blaugrana house, with the eternal Catalan symbol as an indisputable headliner Lionel Messi.

At the time, narrates the EFE, President Bartomeu and the American equipment manufacturer chose to wait until 2018 to set their agreement in stone. Then the two parties, when due, let things drag on – dispatching current affairs within the framework of a “gentlemen agreement” a little wobbly, if not risky … And the health crisis has arrived!

A serious, even desperate situation

To the pandemic was added the crisis of governance of Barça, and the return to the helm of Joan Laporta, who according to the agency raised has still not looked into the issue. But the Catalan club is not really the wind in its sails, and the comma mark is no longer necessarily disposed to the largesse that was his when FC Barcelona shone across the world.

The EFE specifies that many contractual clauses – not initialed, therefore – would be subject to interpretation; and not necessarily for the benefit of Barça… On the verge of losing their jersey sponsor Rakuten – and the 55 million euros annually that go with – even their partner Beko, another strong ally of the Blaugranas in recent years, the residents of Camp Nou, weighted down by a debt of more than one billion euros, are more than ever threatened with bankruptcy.

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