Barcelona reject British company as financial sponsors due to Luis Figo – report | OneFootball

According to Catalunya Radio, FC Barcelona have turned down Revolut as their prospective financial sponsor, due to the British Fintech company’s association with Luis Figo.

The Catalan giants are on the lookout for a new financial sponsor.

‘CaixaBank’ held that position for many years, but its contract with the La Liga champions expired more than a year ago and has not yet been renewed, although negotiations remain ongoing.

Figo’s connection to the campaign caused a problem

In the meantime, Barcelona had considered bringing digital bank Revolut on board as a new sponsor.

However, according to the report, the club ultimately decided against the proposal for reasons that were not financial, but emotional.

The issue for Barcelona was former player Luis Figo, who is the face of Revolut’s latest advertising campaign.

Luis Figo during his time at Barcelona (Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill /Allsport)

The former Portuguese international appears prominently in the bank’s promotional material and even makes references in the adverts to his controversial 2000 transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid.

A controverial transfer

Figo’s move to the Santiago Bernabeu from Camp Nou remains one of the most contentious transfers in Barcelona’s history.

The former Ballon d’Or winner joined Real Madrid from Barça after a secret agreement between his agent and Florentino Perez.

Los Blancos shelled out €62 million to complete the transfer from Barcelona, making him the most expensive footballer in the world at the time.

Prior to that transfer, Figo had spent five years at the Catalan club, making 249 appearances, in which he scored 45 and assisted 91 goals.

Figo left Barcelona for Real Madrid. (Photo by Firo Foto/Getty Images)

He won to La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys, and one European Cup Winners’ Cup, among other honours, with the Blaugrana, before being crowned the Ballon d’Or winner in 2000.

Therefore, his move to Real Madrid sparked a strong reaction among Barça fans, who branded Figo a traitor, and targeted him with abuse during the subsequent El Clasico, even throwing a severed pig’s head at him.

More than 20 years of that controversial move, Figo still remains a very divisive figure among the Barcelona fanbase.

As such, his involvement with Revolut became particularly sensitive from the Catalan club’s perspective.

And therefore, Barcelona ultimately rejected Revolut’s proposal despite having previously considered the digital bank as a potential financial partner.