(UPDATED!) News of the Day: Busquets On The Clear, Next Season’s Kit and More Unicef

*long pause* It's red and blue!

-Yes, this is next season’s home kit, which Barça will debut on the match against Málaga next weekend (Saturday, 18:00 CET). Note the dark, dull colours, the horrible Qatar Foundation logo and then, ahem, strategical positioning of the Unicef logo. The one upside I can think of is that it looks like it will be a very tight fit on most players. For, um, aerodynamic reasons solely, of course.
Rumour is that the away kit will be black, but we will know for sure tomorrow at 22:00 CET, when the new kits are unveiled live on BarçaTV.

-UEFA released this morning a statement that will hopefully (ha, who am I kidding?!) put an end to the Busquets affair nonsense (bolding mine):

The report lodged by Real Madrid CF concerning racial abuse against Marcelo by FC Barcelona player Sergio Busquets has been dismissed due to a lack of strong and convincing evidence.
The chairman of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body, acting as a judge sitting alone, has today decided to dismiss the report made by Real Madrid CF concerning racial abuse against its player Marcelo by FC Barcelona player Sergio Busquets in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg between the clubs in Madrid on 27 April, due to a lack of strong and convincing evidence.‬

Now, all that’s left to know is who is lying their heads off? No, not Busi or Marcelo, that we will never know. I mean, Real Madrid or UEFA? UEFA says on the statement that they are ruling on a ‘report lodged by Real Madrid’, while EE have been going on about how they weren’t responsible for any of this and the UEFA had been acting on its own initiative. Share your conspiracy theory in the comments! The more creative will get you a visit by a bunch of disgruntled lawyers!
Oh, and should you disagree with this ruling and want to complain, here you can find the UEFA’s address and telephone numbers. Shouting in our comments section, while momentarily satisfying, isn’t likely to do anyone any good.
ETA: wait, but there’s more! “UEFA Appeals Body rejected the appeal lodged by Real Madrid CF against the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body’s decision to dismiss the Spanish club’s protest in relation to the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg between Madrid and FC Barcelona on 27 April. The protest lodged by Madrid was against the behaviour of Barcelona players during the match.”
So, all the seven players accused of unsportsmanlike behaviour have also been acquitted. Can we give the Four Cláscos of the Apocalypse up for dead already, please?
ETA – The Sequel: Real Madrid have released a statement where they say that a) the allegations about Busquets did NOT come from them, that it was UEFA which decided to investigate on their own initiative; b) that once UEFA decided to investigate, they requested a statement from Marcelo; c) that they are no part of the whole process is proof that RM have not been involved; and d) that they found out about UEFA’s final decision through the press, and weren’t told anything directly, proving again that they had nothing to do with it.
The plot thickens… odds on where the next statement is going to come from? Maybe we should release our own! (insert your own ‘Release the kraken!’ jokes here)

-And, on more pleasant news, Barça and UNICEF extend their agreement. Not, alas, from the front of our shirts, but our newfound penchant for Middle East petrol money doesn’t mean that we will abandon our philantrophic roots.

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Category: Barcelona, Team News