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span class="inline inline-left">New sponsor: Starting July 1, Barcelona will sport Qatar Airways on its jerseys as the main sponsor, replacing the Qatar Foundation following the signing of an agreement between the two parties on Monday. (AP)Recession-affected Spain has played its part in ending FC Barcelona’s refusal to display corporate logos on their players’ jerseys.

From July 1, the Spanish giant will have Qatar Airways appear on its outfit following an agreement between the two parties, which was officially announced on Monday.

Club president Sandro Rossel said 90 percent of the board of directors voted for the sponsorship agreement after earlier rejecting a bid from a betting company.

He did not identify the betting firm.

“The best way to deal with recession is to look for new resources. The partnership will not only be good for the club but also the people of Catalonia and the country,” Rossel told a media conference.

The airline’s logo will replace the Qatar Foundation next season.

The change is part of a controversial sponsorship agreement believed to value ¤210 million (US$273.73 million) signed with Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) in 2010. As part of the deal, Qatar Foundation relegated the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) logo to the back below the number and player’s name.

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said the agreement would help the Gulf state promote its hosting of the 2022 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova may have finished his cancer treatment in New York and be back with the squad by the end of March, president Sandro Rosell said on Monday, according to Reuters.

Vilanova, 44, needed a second round of surgery in December following an operation to remove a tumor from his saliva glands in November 2011 and his assistant Jordi Roura has taken charge until he is well enough to return.

Although it they are still 11 points clear at the top of La Liga, Barca has stuttered in recent weeks —
losing 2-0 at AC Milan in last month’s Champions League last 16, first leg and going down twice to arch rival Real Madrid last week.

Rosell said the coach was midway through a course of chemo- and radiotherapy and when he visited him in New York last week was “in very good spirits” and “very involved in the day to day activities of the club”.

“There is no doubt that a group gets weaker when they lose their leader,” Rosell told a news conference following a routine meeting of the Catalan club’s board of directors.

“Sports psychologists say, and I suppose there is a scientific explanation to it, that after 30 days the group’s shape weakens,” he added.

“We have been without our leader for a long time now and it is normal to see this happening.

“He is longing to come back, hoping for the process to finish, which is due at the end of March.

“The other day he told me he was happy because he could start the countdown as he is over half of the process and he has less than 50 percent of it left. “That is very good for his state of mind. He wants to come back and we want him back.”

Some media reports in Spain have suggested Barca was considering bringing in a temporary replacement coach but an emotional Rosell categorically ruled it out.

Barca has a La Liga game at home to bottom side Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday before it hosts Milan at the Nou Camp on March 12.