Barcelona Seeks New Airline Sponsor; Club VP Confirms Wednesday Deadline For Benedito

Sources confirmed that Barcelona broke off its relationship with Qatar Airways and "ended talks over the continued use of the company as the club's official airline partner," according to Samuel Marsden of ESPN.com. Qatar Airways was replaced as Barcelona's shirt sponsor by Japanese company Rakuten earlier this summer (ESPN.com, 9/26).

CLOCK'S TICKING: In Barcelona, Esther Blasco reported Barcelona confirmed that Agustí Benedito had until Wednesday at 11:30pm local time -- and not Monday -- to present his vote of no confidence against the current board. Club VP Jordi Cardoner presented "external reports stating that Saturdays count as working days, meaning Wednesday marks the deadline for Benedito to present the signatures" (SPORT, 9/27). In Madrid, Juan Jiménez reported Barcelona Commercial Dir Francesco Calvo is "one of the people being investigated by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) over Juventus' ties to ultras." Calvo "has been sanctioned with a 15-month suspension" (AS, 9/27).