After the top Spanish football team and the central African nation agreed to a four-year deal with Barcelona, Barcelona players will now have the slogan “DR Congo – Heart of Africa” emblazoned on the back of their training shirts starting next year.
The Democratic Republic of Congo will reportedly spend 44 million euros on the partnership, including 50 million and 38 million, despite the club’s commitment to pay.
Some Congolese have criticized the arrangement because its domestic football league has endured years of chronic underfunding.
Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium will house what the club called an “immersive exhibition… to showcase the DR Congo’s cultural diversity and sporting tradition” as part of the deal.
The agreement includes a training camp for 50 newcomers to the Congolese football team, according to Didier Budimbu, the country’s sports minister, according to Didier Budimbu’s BBC Focus on Africa.
Barcelona says it will also offer kid’s basketball, handball, and roller hockey camps.
Similar agreements have been made with French side AS Monaco and Italian side AC Milan. As part of a plan to “reposition” DR Congo as a leader in tourism and investment opportunities, Budimbu described them last month.
Rwanda, the regional rival of DR Congo, has a sponsorship deal with English side Arsenal that advertises tourism there, and the player shirt sleeves read “Visit Rwanda.” Similar deals exist between the German side Bayern Munich and Paris St.Germain in France.
These issues have also been criticized, particularly recently when Rwanda has been accused of supporting rebels in the East African country during a devastating conflict.
Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the DR Congo’s foreign minister, wrote to the clubs in February to question the “morality” of the arrangement.
The Rwandan government referred to the accusations of “distraction” as “distractions.”
A peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo was signed in June to put an end to decades of the bloody conflict.
Following complaints from the general public, the South African tourism board reached an agreement with Tottenham Hotspur in 2023 that was never reached.
This arrangement has been successful despite similar noises in some DR Congo locations.
The nation’s national football league has struggled since Covid-19 began, primarily because of a lack of funding for travel across the vast nation.
Source: BBC
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