Barcelona has partnered with Dr. Congo to promote tourism
The Democratic Republic of Congo agreed to pay Spanish soccer team Barcelona around 40 million euros ($46.37 million) in a sponsorship deal seen by Reuters on Thursday in exchange for a travel-promoting emblem that would feature on some team gear.
The men’s and women’s teams’ training and warm-up shirts will have a graphic referring to the war-torn Central African country as the “heart of Africa,” according to the June 29 contract with Barcelona.
The contract states that the insignia will appear in the club’s magazine, annual report, and advertisements.
The club claims that for the next four seasons, Congo will provide them between 10 and 11.5 million euros annually.
Details of the Congo-Barcelon deal have not yet been made public.
Although they did not disclose the financial details, AS Monaco and AC Milan also announced sponsorship deals with Congo last month.
According to Didier Budimbu, the Congolese minister of sports, the agreement with AS Monaco is valued at 1.6 million euros every season (Reuters).
He concealed the amounts of the contracts with AC Milan and Barcelona.
A Congolese government source stated that the contract with AC Milan was worth 14 million euros a season.
The AC Milan agreement was announced on June 20 by Congolese Tourism Minister Didier M’Pambia, who said it was a component of a government plan to “reposition the DRC on the international stage as an undisputed leader on the African continent” through the promotion of tourism and investment.
While Congo’s tourism ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, Barcelona told Reuters they had no comment at this time.
In February, Congo’s foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner urged football teams Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Paris St. Germain to end their “blood-stained” sponsorship agreements with “Visit Rwanda.”
Less than a week had passed since M23 rebels quickly overran and seized Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, when the request was made.
Rwanda denies assistance for M23 and says it is protecting itself.
By exercising command and control over the rebels during their march, Kigali gained access to mineral-rich areas and political influence, according to a research by a team of UN experts obtained by Reuters last month.
