The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has agreed to
pay more than $46.37m in a sponsorship deal with Spanish
football club Barcelona that would see a logo promoting tourism
appear on some team apparel, according to a contract seen by
Reuters.
The contract with Barcelona, seen on Thursday by the news
agency, is dated June 29 and stipulates that a logo branding
the war-hit Central African country as the “heart of Africa”
will appear on the backs of training and warm-up jerseys for
the men’s and women’s teams.
The logo will also appear in advertising for the club and in
the club magazine and annual report, the contract says.
DR Congo will pay the club between $11.6m and $13.3m annually
over the next four seasons, it says.
Details of the deal between DR Congo and Barcelona have not
been announced.
AS Monaco and AC Milan last month also announced sponsorship
deals with DR Congo without disclosing the amounts.
DR Congo’s Sports Minister Didier Budimbu told Reuters the
contract with AS Monaco is worth $1.85m per season. He did not
disclose the amounts for the contracts with AC Milan or
Barcelona.
A government source said the contract with AC Milan was worth
$16.2m per season.
DR Congo’s Ministry of Tourism did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on Thursday, while Barcelona told Reuters
they had no comment at this time.
In February, DR Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba
Wagner urged football clubs Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris
Saint-Germain to end their “blood-stained” sponsorship
agreements with “Visit Rwanda”.
The appeal came less than a week after M23 rebels seized
eastern DR Congo’s biggest city, Goma, as part of a lightning
advance.
Rwanda denies backing M23, saying it is defending itself.
A report by a group of United Nations experts obtained by
Reuters this month said Kigali exercised command and control
over the rebels during their advance, gaining political
influence and access to mineral-rich territory.