Well, Nike has released a mock-up of the new 'Qatar Foundation' FC Barcelona jersey, or at least the away version of it:
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b7SxL
A few thoughts on this. First, thank goodness they did not try and reproduce that blotchy Sidra-tree logo of the Qatar Foundation, it is UGLY and it would have look like a big glob of bird poop on the blaugrana from a distance. Mercifully, someone at the Nike design team had the aesthetic sense to avoid trying to reproduce that on the jersey. So, score one for aesthetic sensibility there, I suppose.
However: black? To the best of my knowledge, Barca has never worn black before. Don't get me wrong-- it looks good, like DC United's kit looks sharp on the pitch. But DC United has always worn black, and Barca never has. Again, we are seeing this 'Qatar Foundation' sponsorship morph into something that is outside of Barca's club traditions.
Verdict? The new jersey is aesthetically pleasing and, visually, I like it; but it is still a betrayal of club traditions. Since when does Barca traffic with royalty? Or is that OK so long as its not the Spanish monarchy and they have a ton of money?
On so many levels, this new sponsorship is very wrong for FC Barcelona. The deal is set to expire in 2016, along with Sandro Rosell's first (and hopefully last) term as club President. I can't wait.
“LIKE A JEDI KNIGHT— no, better than that— A TEMPLAR KNIGHT. This is a FLASH OF PURE INSPIRATION, and let me tip my hat to the genesis of this goal: Ibarra. Lionel only absolutely LIGHTS IT UP here, he LIFTS OFF IT, FLAMETHROWERS IT PAST poor Reny Vega. It’s just as well Reny didn’t get a hand to that because it would have TAKEN IT OFF HIS WRIST. Superlative football and an out of this world BERNINI SCULPTURE of a finish." GOL TV Commentator Ray Hudson
