The Barcelona/Unicef Conspiracy Theory

Article by: Callum Moseley (@CallumMosMedia)

Lets go back to the summer of 2006, FC Barcelona returned to pre-season after winning three trophies during the 2005/06 season. This included La Liga, Supercopa De Espana and the UEFA Champions League, whilst having one of the most in-form strikers on the planet, in the shape of Samuel Eto'o who scored 34 goals in total. 

That summer, the football club announced a new global partnership with worldwide charity Unicef. Unicef were founded back in 1946, following the conclusion of the second world war, more on them shortly. The overall partnership, involved FC Barcelona donating roughly £1.25million every year, in order to fund child development and educational programs across the world. From 2006 to 2016, the club donated an estimated £12.5million, which has since increased as between 2017 and 2020, the donation amount doubled meaning the combined estimation is roughly £20million. 

This partnership was the very first time that a football club had promoted Unicef BUT donated money instead of the charity paying the club to sponsor the club. This was the case with Italian third division side Piacenza Calcio 1919, who were sponsored by the charity from 2003 to 2008. 

Now, on the outside of things, this seems like an incredible gesture from one of the biggest football clubs on the planet. However, conspiracy theories state that there is something much more serious going on behind closed doors. 

In 2006, Unicef didn't just announce a partnership with FC Barcelona, they also became the proud sponsors for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It does seem like a charity just trying to expand their opportunities to earn more valuable money, donated by richer individuals, but you have to admit that it is strange. Especially, when a charity that was already relatively established, suddenly decided to launch a partnership with both the global governing body and a side, who at the time, were arguably the biggest football club on the planet. 

Conspirators believe that behind this lucrative gesture from the Spanish side, a secret deal was in-place which allowed the club to be gifted easier draws and referees that favoured the Catalan side across all their league, cup and international matches. This theory definitely has legs, when you consider the nature of the information I have already discussed as well as the fact that Barcelona paid for a sponsor instead of a company sponsoring Barcelona. 

Now, this rumour was interestingly supported by both Jose Mourinho and former FC Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Therefore, lets take a look at whether their is any evidence that actually supports this theory, and then we will dive into comments made by the two footballing icons, that I have mentioned...

The 2006/2007 season, was FC Barcelona's first official season under the Unicef sponsorship. In the UEFA Champions League, they were given a relatively straight forward group, with their only tough fixture, coming against Premier League side Chelsea FC before they were knocked out by Liverpool in the round of sixteen. Now, in the Copa Del Ray, rumours did begin to grow, as the club were handed a very easy run to the semi-finals. However, if you take a look at the draw in full, the leagues 'big' clubs such as Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Valencia were all eliminated early in the tournament, meaning by the time Barcelona made the semi-finals, the only difficult opponent left was Sevilla, but the Catalan side instead drew Getafe, winning the first game 5-2 before losing 4-0 in the second leg and crashing out. 

In fact, it took FC Barcelona three seasons, before they won silverware again, this time winning La Liga, Copa Del Ray and the UEFA Champions League under Pep Guardiola. The longer you analyse all of the clubs group-stage draws, cup draws and refereeing performances, you will struggle to spot any clear link between the clubs partnership and easier cup draws. 

To prove my point, I ever jumped to the 2016/2017 season, which is the first season when FC Barcelona increased their annual donation to Unicef, from £1.25million to £2million. In this season, they won the Copa Del Ray and the Supercopa De Espana, whilst finishing runners-up in La Liga and quarter-finalists in the UEFA Champions League. In the Champions League, Barcelona had a difficult group, playing against an in-form Manchester City. Despite winning the group, they faced French giants PSG in the round of 16, losing the first game 4-0 before coming back to win the second in what was one of the most memorable Champions League matches in football history at the Parc De Prances. However, they were beaten by Juventus in the quarter-finals. Even despite winning the Copa Del Ray, the club were still forced to play the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid and the surprise package Alaves. 

As mentioned above, this theory is backed by Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovc but even then, I still feel this rumour is completely far-fetched. Ahead of the 2011 Champions League final, Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho came out to publicly criticise UEFA for instructing their officials to favour Barcelona throughout both of their semi-final matches in the previous round. Although he does have a point, every manager in world football has at one stage or another, accused a referee of favouring the opposition whenever something doesn't go their way. However, it didn't stop fans from speculating and Unicef even had to release a public statement, denying the rumour. 

Things died down until the 2012 UEFA Champions League quarter-final between FC Barcelona and AC Milan. Former Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, added fuel to the fire, in his post-match interview. In it, he stated that he agreed with the claims made by Jose Mourinho just twelve months earlier. It was alleged that throughout both semi-finals, the Spanish side constantly fouled, grabbed and pushed the Swedish international without being penalised once by either referee. Barcelona beat AC Milan 3-1 before losing in the semi-finals to eventual winners Chelsea. 

Despite their being the occasional cup draw, refereeing decision or signing that has definitely led global football fans to question whether there is something fishy going on between Barcelona, Unicef and UEFA/Fifa, this rumour is very far-fetched. In England, there is a common joke that sides like Manchester City are constantly given easy cup draws, whether it be in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup or UEFA Champions League, but no accusations have ever properly been made like Barcelona had. 

Therefore, I think we can safely rule out any type of foul-play going on behind closed doors, and instead it is simply nothing more than a coincidence and nothing more.