Wearing a Barcelona shirt in Saudi Arabia "could land you with a fine" of up to £120,000 ($153,000) and a 15-year prison sentence, "due to the club's continued ties with Qatar Airways," according to Ben Grounds of the London DAILY MAIL. Tensions in the Gulf region "have seen countries such as Saudi Arabia boycott Qatari entities" -- and their measures "could impact football fans who wish to wear Neymar and Lionel Messi replica shirts." Barça shirts sporting the airline's logo are "said to be outlawed." Qatar "rejected the claims." According to Sky Italy, supporters caught donning shirts with the Qatar Airways logo now face fines of around £120,000 and up to 15 years in jail. Barcelona was sponsored by Qatar Airways for the past four seasons, but agreed in November to a four-year deal with Japanese online retailer Rakuten from the start of the '17-18 campaign. Barcelona is "not the only club" affected by political tensions after Paris St. Germain was faced with an "unexpected problem" relating to its shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates. The UAE's national carrier has stopped flights to Qatar -- "the homeland of PSG's owners," but the club said, "It will have no effect on the club, there is no worry" (DAILY MAIL, 6/10).
