BARCELONA: Barcelona will sell the title rights to their storied stadium for one year in an effort to raise money for the fight against the coronavirus.
The Spanish club’s executive board said Tuesday it will donate the entire fee raised by selling the title rights to the Camp Nou to fighting the global pandemic.
The Camp Nou is the biggest stadium in Europe with more than 99,000 seats. It has never had a sponsor since it opened in 1957.
“We want to send a universal message: For the first time someone will have the opportunity to put their name on Camp Nou and the revenues will go to all of humanity, not just Barca,” club vice president Jordi Cardoner told The Associated Press.
“The initiative arose in an emergency situation. We think that we have to have a very quick response, putting our crown jewel at the service (of the fight).”
The club had planned to wait to sell the stadium’s title rights for the first time in the 2023-24 season. At that time, the club hopes to bring in €300 million ($326 million) paid up front for a 25-year contract to pay for renovations to the stadium and other facilities.
Cardoner, who has recovered after contracting the virus, said the board conceived of this new charity sale independent of the long-term deal of 25 years. But, he said that if there emerges a sponsor who wanted to include it in the long-term deal, then the club would consider it.
Cardoner said Barcelona want to listen to offers from companies and private foundations and will consider opening it up to a group of interested sponsors who could team up and hopefully provide even more funds to help battle the new virus.
He would not give any estimate on how much the foundation hopes to earn from this “one-shot” sale. But given the greatness of Lionel Messi and the millions of spectators who tune in each week to watch Barcelona’s games, Camp Nou is one of the most coveted venues in sports.
“Camp Nou is sending out an S.O.S.,” Cardoner said. “We are open to everything. We want to maximize the economic participation and to ensure that the partners share our same social values.”
The stadium will maintain the name “Camp Nou” in addition to including the sponsor, the club said.
Barcelona’s foundation for social charities, which is overseen by Cardoner, will manage the investment of the money in fighting the virus. The foundation runs programs in Spain and in 58 other countries, largely focused on at-risk youth and refugees.
The club said it hopes to close a deal “in the coming weeks.” The decision will then have to be approved by a general assembly of club members, which number 140,000, likely to be held in October, if conditions permit.
How the money is used will be determined by the club’s foundation and the sponsor, with each party proposing how to distribute half of the funds, Cardoner said. Barcelona said they want s to propose using part of the money in Spain, especially in Catalonia, and in countries where the club has current charities. Cardoner said specific projects have not been chosen, but he would like some money to go to helping the elderly, especially in the devastated nursing home sector.
Cardoner said that he took some inspiration from the club’s decision in 2006 to put UNICEF on its shirt, which had never carried a sponsor before. The club moved the UNICEF logo to the back of the shirt in 2011 and sold the front to a corporate sponsor. It has continued to donate €2 million ($2.14 million) to UNICEF annually.
The main impetus, however, hit Cardoner while he was confined to his bed waging his own fight against an infection from the virus. He never needed hospitalization and fully recovered after a couple of weeks, but he said that the experience prompted him to “think big.”
“I spent a long time in bed and had time to think,” he said. “We do a lot through our foundation, and it occurred to me that we had to think big, think big like we did with the shirt and UNICEF.”
Barcelona sell Camp Nou title to raise money to fight virus
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Barcelona sell Camp Nou title to raise money to fight virus
Shakib Al-Hasan shines as MI Emirates down table-toppers Desert Vipers by 4 wickets
- All-round performance helped move the team back to second in the points table
DUBAI: MI Emirates registered a composed four-wicket victory over the table toppers Desert Vipers to seal their third straight win in the DP World ILT20 Season 4 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. After a disciplined bowling performance in the first innings, MI Emirates overcame early pressure before Kieron Pollard and Shakib Al-Hasan guided the team to victory.
The Desert Vipers managed to score 124 courtesy of Dan Lawrence’s gritty 35 off 34 balls, but MI Emirates navigated a tricky chase with relative ease. With the ball, spinner Al-Hasan’s two wickets for 14 runs led the charge and kept the Vipers in check, before Zahoor Khan’s death bowling ensured the total remained below par.
In reply, MI Emirates stumbled in the powerplay and lost momentum in the middle overs, but Pollard’s 26 off 15 balls flipped the contest decisively. Even after his dismissal, Al-Hasan held firm to see the chase through, striking the winning boundary to complete a controlled four-wicket win with 15 balls to spare.
MI Emirates endured a slow powerplay as the Vipers applied sustained pressure. David Payne set the tone early, removing Jonny Bairstow (5 off 5), while Lockie Ferguson struck to dismiss Muhammad Waseem (18 off 13). They finished the powerplay with 35/2 on the board.
The batting side lost momentum through the middle overs as the Vipers bowlers tightened the screws. Nicholas Pooran (17 off 17) mounted a brief counterattack with two sixes but was trapped LBW by Lawrence. Wickets fell at regular intervals, including Tom Banton (10 off 10) being bowled by a sharp Qais Ahmad delivery.
Then, skipper Pollard swung the momentum decisively, taking Ahmad apart with a pair of sixes in the 15th over that turned the chase in MI Emirates’ favor. He was eventually dismissed by Matiullah Khan, but Al-Hasan (17* off 25) held his nerve, anchoring the finish before striking the winning boundary off Matiullah to close the chase at 124/6 in 17.3 overs.
In the first innings, the Vipers made a subdued start in the powerplay, as Chris Woakes was excellent up front, conceding just 15 runs from his three overs. Allah Ghazanfar struck the key blow by removing Max Holden (20 off 18). Fakhar Zaman (13 off 13) tried to build momentum, but the lack of boundaries and regular dots ensured the Vipers were restricted to 35/1 after six overs.
MI Emirates tightened their grip through the middle overs as Al-Hasan struck twice in a miserly spell to remove Zaman and Sam Curran (4 off 4), conceding just eight runs in two overs. Arab Gul added to the pressure by dismissing Hasan Nawaz (13 off 19), leaving the Vipers reeling after losing three wickets in as many overs and the score at 54/4 at the halfway mark of their innings.
Lawrence and Jason Roy (14 off 18) showed intent in patches, adding a cautious stand of 42 runs in 40 balls, but boundaries were scarce. Al-Hasan capped an outstanding spell, leaving the Vipers with little impetus. Khan delivered a decisive final over, finishing with two for 17, as regular wickets in the death overs ensured the Vipers were kept in check, leaving MI Emirates a manageable target of 125 to seal the chase.
Al-Hasan said: “It was a surface that suited the spinners, and the focus was on hitting the right areas consistently. I was able to do that today, which was pleasing. I’m glad it helped the team. Batting wasn’t easy on this pitch either. With so many powerful hitters in our lineup, someone needed to play the anchoring role, and I was happy to take on that responsibility to make sure we finished the chase.”
Desert Vipers stand-in skipper Curran commented: “It was another low-scoring game on a tricky surface. The pitch was slow, and facing a side like MI Emirates, who have high-quality spinners with a lot of variation, made it even tougher. Despite that, I thought our bowlers put in a strong effort. With qualification already secured, we chose to rotate the squad, and what happened to Lockie reinforces the importance of managing workloads.”
