Barcelona Offered a Chance to Open a Franchise Team in Qatar

Barcelona Offered a Chance to Open a Franchise Team in Qatar

Chukwu Ikechukwu
updated at June 22, 2023 at 10:54 AM
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  • Barcelona have reportedly been offered a chance to create a team in the Qatari League
  • The Middle Eastern nation is proposing the idea for the Spanish side to generate income
  • Barcelona are in a financial crisis which led to the Catalans failing to re-sign Lionel Messi

Joan Laporta’s business trip to Qatar seems to have yielded a fruitful outcome already for Barcelona after the Catalan club was reportedly offered a chance to own a club in the Qatari League.

The Barcelona president is said to have met with Qatari businessmen from Baladi Holding during his recent trip to the Middle East as he tried to source revenue for the cash-strapped club.

Barcelona, Joan Laporta, Lionel Messi, Camp Nou, Spain, UEFA Champions League
Barcelona is the first major European club the Qatari League owners are proposing to own a team in the Arab country. Photo by David Ramos
Source: Getty Images

According to Mundo Deportivo, chairman of the board of directors of Baladi Holdings, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Attiyah, floated the idea to Laporta about Barcelona owning a franchise in the Qatari League.

Al-Attiyah is believed to have hopes the idea will attract other big European clubs to the country's top flight in the future as they aim to build a super league in the Arab country.

Following the success of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar aims to build one of the strongest leagues in world football and attracting some of the best clubs to their country is one way they are considering achieving their target.

Barca copying Man City model

Meanwhile, Barcelona hopes to emulate the English Premier League champions, Manchester City's model after the club was offered a chance to own a franchise team in Qatar.

The owners of the English club operate under such a model, with the City Football Group owning several franchises across the globe, including the United States and India, Barca Universal reports.

Man City’s owners currently own other clubs, such as New York City FC (USA), Mumbai City FC (India), Girona (Spain), Melbourne City FC (Australia), and Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan), among others.

Barcelona win La Liga title

Earlier, Sports Brief reported on Barcelona winning the La Liga title for the first time since 2019, thrashing Espanyol 4-2 to wrest the title back from rivals, Real Madrid.

The Catalans clinched their 27th Spanish championship at their neighbours, with scenes turning ugly at full-time as celebrating players were chased by pitch invaders.

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Chukwu Ikechukwu
Chukwu Ikechukwu Godwin is a journalist with over 9 years of experience in the Nigerian media industry. He has worked both in Radio (Today FM, Rhythm FM, Wish FM) and Television (Silverbird TV) as a Sports Analyst..
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