Barcelona may incorporate sponsor into Camp Nou

Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium may incorporate Qatar Airways into its name as part of a future sponsorship deal.

The airline's chief executive officer, Akbar al-Baker, said: "Everything is a possibility for our company, we're open to surprises and one of these could be connected to the name of Camp Nou. Qatar Airways and Barcelona have the same values. It is possible that our name is added to Camp Nou."

Last month the Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, cast doubt on an extension to the current €165m (£123.2m) five-year deal with Qatar Sports Investments by saying that the social and political issues in Qatar had led to a rethink.

“We will look at other options – we are obliged to do that,” he said. “It ends in 2016. We are sensitive to the current situation in Qatar, which has changed since four years ago. Now there are social and political aspects which were not there when we signed.”

However, speaking at the Qatar Airway event on Thursday, Javier Faus, Barcelona’s vice president, said he expected the partnership to continue. “We need a new sponsor, we have zero problems with Qatar, so it will be a quick decision,” he said.

Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, was recently caught on camera admitting that the Bernabéu would be renamed the Abu Dhabi Bernabéu.