Swedish Government Minister criticises Barcelona agreement

Barcelona announced a fresh sponsorship agreement last week that will reportedly bring in €44m over the next four years. While that news was received positively by many Barcelona fans hoping it could aid their chronic financial issues, but the deal with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not been well-received everywhere.

The deal will see the DR Congo tourism board promote the country on the sleeve of Barcelona’s shirt, with the slogan ‘RD Congo – Coeur d’Afrique’ [DR Congo – Heart of Africa]. It follows on from similar campaigns by Rwanda and Bostwana in recent years looking to sponsor football teams, while AS Monaco and AC Milan have signed similar agreements with DR Congo.

Swedish Government critical of Barcelona-DR Congo deal

Meanwhile Swedish Government Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Sweden, Benjamin Dousa, has spoken about the matter, as one of the sides that sends aid to DR Congo.

“I want to emphasize that not a single Swedish cent should be spent on these priorities. Our aid goes toward food packages, vaccines, and books. We hope that Swedish money won’t be used to pay for priorities like the partnership with Barcelona,” Dousa was quoted by Diario AS.

The article also notes that 73% of the DR Congolese population are categorised as living in poverty, and they rank 163rd out of 180 in the corruption index.

Human rights concerns over DR Congo

Beyond the potential misuse of government funds, Amnesty International have raise concerns over the human rights situation in DR Congo, directly clashing with Barcelona’s ‘More than a Club’ slogan, and their support of the LGBTQIA+ community, which the government are looking to criminalise. With fighting ongoing between DR Congo and Rwandan-backed rebel groups, there have also been reports of extrajudicial killings by government forces.