The Barcelona Jersey Can Bring Disaster in Saudi Arabia

Football news - The government of Saudi Arabia, reported the Daily Mail, Sunday (11/06/2017), prohibits citizens wearing Barcelona costume with the sponsor logo of Qatar Airways. If anyone breaks, the local government will impose a fine of 120,000 pounds (Rp 2.03 billion) to a 12-year-old confinement.

The diplomatic relations between Qatar and some middle eastern countries are the cause of the enactment of the regulation. Saudi Arabia accused its neighbors of having links to extremist groups referring to acts of terrorism.

The Saudi Arabian government then prohibits all things related to Qatar. Previously, countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain, also took similar action.

Football became one of the directly affected aspects. Barcelona threatened to lose its earnings purse because of steps taken by the government of Saudi Arabia and a number of middle eastern countries.

Since 2011, Qatar Sports Investment is a major sponsor in Barcelona. However, their co-operation has ended because the Catalan team will be supplied by a Japanese company, Rakuten, in the 2017-2018 season.

Barcelona is not the only club that is negatively affected by the polemic. Paris Saint-Germain is one of the clubs who will report the same fate, considering it has a sponsorship deal with another Qatar company, Emirates.