Barcelona is one of the biggest and most popular teams in the world. However, in one country, openly showing your love for the Blaugrana could land you behind bars.
This is as reported by the Mirror, claiming that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued a ban on the Catalan giants’ kit. The reason for this harsh law is due to diplomatic tension between the Saudis and Qatar.
The oil-rich kingdom has shut its borders to the 2022 World Cup hosts and cut all diplomatic ties. Accusing Qatar of funding extremists, Saudi have now banned Barca’s jerseys due to the club’s sponsorship deal with state-owned Qatar Airways.
Sporting the famous kit worn by Messi and Co. is now punishable by possibly up to 15 years in prison and a £120,000 fine. Censorship of the kit has already begun, as seen in one picture of MSN with Qatar Airways being blanked out.
It remains whether this ban will continue once Barca’s deal with the blacklisted airline company ends on June 30. The current sponsors will be replaced by Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company, for the 2017/18 season onward.
http://www.livesoccertv.com
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