Turkish Airlines (THY), Turkey's national carrier, signed a sponsorship deal with Spanish first division soccer club FC Barcelona on Monday.

THY General Manager Temel Kotil and FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta signed the sponsorship deal at a ceremony at the club's stadium Nou Camp, which was also attended by THY's Executive Board members Orhan Birdal and Mehmet Büyükekşi, along with Control Board members Naci Ağbal and İsmail Gerçek. More than 100 press members from around the world were also at the ceremony.THY will pay some 9 million euros for the deal, which will last for the following three years. THY will carry Barcelona players to tournaments and camps outside Spain. THY is the third foreign company to become the official sponsor for FC Barcelona. The club currently has four other sponsorship deals, which were previously signed with La Caixa Bank, Estrella Damm, Nike and Audi. THY sponsorship does not include charter flights. Under the deal THY will have the opportunity to make a commercial with Barcelona players and will be allowed to use the sponsorship to promote the company across the world.Meanwhile, during a first division league match with Sevilla on Sunday, THY's recent promotion film, in which famous Hollywood star Kevin Costner also took part, was shown on the screen. As part of the promotion, five FC Barcelona fans earned free THY return tickets from Barcelona to İstanbul. Meanwhile, appearing in several dailies on Sunday, THY is also preparing to shake hands with Manchester United, the most valuable soccer team as stated in a recent Forbes study. The parties have agreed to almost all details and are expected to reach a deal within a few weeks' time.Established in 1933, THY increased its number of aircraft from five to its present 124. The airline currently flies to 37 points within the country and 156 points worldwide.