Football Leaks – Barca gets $ 12 million for the US 2017 tour

Whether the summer tours on preparing large Europeans in Asia or North America are motivated by financial arguments, there is no surprise. However, the documents of Football Leaks, discovered by a consortium of European media, allow precise measurement of the winnings achieved in these friendly matches. from the Der Spiegel, FC Barcelona collected $ 13.75 million (12.04 million euros) in three matches for the International Cup in July 2017: against Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

An agreement between Barcelona and Relevent Sports, an American agency that organizes a friendly tournament on several continents (Asia, Europe, North America), provides a premium of 2.8 million euros ($ 3.25 million) per match, with a bonus of EUR 657,000 (750,000 dollars) for a game against Manchester United and a maximum € 5.7 million ($ 6.5 million) bonus for the Clasico friendly match against Real Madrid.

In order to ensure the attractiveness of the tournament, "Relevent Sports" skipped some of the contract requirements: for a game against Real Madrid, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez had to play at least 45 minutes under penalty of fines. If no star was adjusted, Barca would lose two million dollars (1, 75 million euros).

Der Spiegel notes that Charlie Stylitano, president of Relevent Sports, was at the center of a closed European league project at the end of 2015 with a small group of European clubs. Relevant Sports also reached an agreement with La Liga to move to Miami from the Spanish Championships (Girona – FC Barcelona). The project was rejected by the Fifa opposition.