Barcelona is facing a new dilemma due to the repercussions of the departure of Argentine star Lionel Messi from the team months ago, and the board of directors entered a race against time to find the appropriate solution.
A report by Forbes magazine conveyed information confirming that the Barcelona administration had rejected two offers to sponsor the team's shirt during the past months, and was hoping for better offers, but Messi's departure reduced the number of those interested in sponsoring the team.
The report indicated that a company working in the field of cryptocurrency offered the team a sponsorship contract worth $81 million annually, in addition to a 20% bonus, according to the club’s results.
The offer passed all the required legal stages within the Barcelona administration, but it faced opposition within the board of directors, because the cryptocurrency sector is controversial, and Barcelona officials justified their decision to the company in question that they could get a better offer.
On the other hand, the club received an offer from an Indian company specializing in online education, which proposed a contract worth 67 million dollars annually, in addition to a bonus of 15% linked to the team's performance and results.
Although the company improved on its first offer, which did not exceed $ 46 million, Barcelona officials chose to postpone the talks, which were about to end last May, arguing that they wanted more money.
With the departure of Messi last August, the best players in the team and the source of the club's greatest attraction, sponsorship talks stopped, and the management found itself in a race against time to sign a successor to the "Rakuten" company, which sponsors the team shirt until the end of the current season, and gives the club 35 Million dollars annually plus variables.
The list of companies contracting with the club currently includes 29 sponsors, which is 11 less than the situation in April 2019, when the historical record of 40 sponsoring companies was achieved, and there is fear within the club’s management of the withdrawal of 10 other companies at the end of the current season. .