体坛英语新闻：Barcelona to charge shirt publicity

BARCELONA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Spanish La Liga leaders, FC Barcelona will charge money for displaying publicity on their shirts for the first time in the club's history, it was announced on Friday.

Barca will earn 30 million euros (40 million US dollars) a year for wearing publicity for the Qatar Foundation on their official shirt, club Vice President Javier Faus confirmed this Friday.

The deal will earn the club around 20 million US dollars for what remains of this season, with the possibility of earning a further eight million depending on the titles the club lifts during the campaign.

The club currently wears the UNICEF trademark on its shirts and Faus stated that the club's relation with the charity would not change.

"The agreement we have signed will incorporate a second trademark on our shirt, and when we are talking of a trademark or sponsorship, we are doing so in general terms, not if it is commercial or not. UNICEF is one trademark and so is the Qatar Foundation, although it is not commercial. It is a foundation in a small country that wants to become known through sport and education," insisted the Vice-President.

"Qatar has just been chosen as the host of the 2022 World Cup, with the support of our coach Pep Guardiola, among others and it has chosen Barca as an ambassador for all of the possibilities that it has," continued Faus, who said the agreement with the Foundation was "the highest in history."

"It gives us the freedom that we like. We are still going to continue with our internal austerity plan, but this will give us more resources," he concluded.