Barcelona, the oil business, and sportswashing allegations in the Amazon

The River Caqueta snakes nearly 1,800 miles into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Here, in the remote Colombian region of Putumayo, football’s global reach is evident.

An indigenous boy on the roadside wears a Barcelona jersey. So too does a teenage girl waiting nearby. On the river, two 10-metre canoes are strapped together, holding a truck and powered by a single outboard motor. Like the others, the coxswain is also in red and blue stripes.

With just one Real Madrid shirt in sight, the score in Putumayo’s El Clasico is 3-1 to Barcelona.

But there are reasons why Barcelona are so popular in Putumayo, which, with its thinly spread population of 350,000 across Colombia’s southern border, is one of the country’s least developed areas.

In May 2024, Barcelona’s charitable arm, the Barca Foundation, sent a former player to Putumayo to work with vulnerable children. Edmilson, now 48, played for Sao Paulo, Lyon and Barcelona across a highly decorated career, the high point of which came when he started and won the 2002 World Cup final with Brazil.

The Barca Foundation’s project in Putumayo has been running since 2019, with the organisation aiming to “to improve the quality of life of vulnerable children and youth through education, health and sport”. Its connection means many local children support the Catalan club.

On the day, Edmilson performed training drills with attendees, handed out medals, and spoke to them about his life. It meant some of Colombia’s most impoverished children received the rare opportunity to spend time with a World Cup winner.

But his visit was not funded solely by Barcelona. It was joint-financed by Gran Tierra Energy, an oil company blamed by Putumayo’s indigenous population for multiple environmental abuses, which Gran Tierra strongly denies.

The Athletic has spoken to more than 20 community leaders, environmental workers and other residents based in Putumayo over the past 12 months. All were speaking under condition of anonymity owing to concerns about their safety.

They have told The Athletic that they believe, due to Gran Tierra’s presence:

• The Amazon rainforest has been widely and visibly polluted around the Colombian-Ecuadorian border region in which Gran Tierra operates
• Multiple taps, which should provide drinking water, release dilute petroleum
• The crops of local farmers have been flooded with polluted water
• The population are exposed to toxic chemicals through widespread gas flaring
• Local activists have faced death threats from unknown sources after protesting against Gran Tierra’s activities.

By accepting funding from Gran Tierra, and allowing it to sponsor local events using Barcelona branding, local activists say the Barca Foundation is complicit in sportswashing the alleged abuses, and worry it will make it easier for Gran Tierra to expand its operations in the future.

A Gran Tierra spokesperson denied this characterisation of the oil company’s influence, stating they “respectfully but firmly disagree with many of the allegations and commentary presented… Gran Tierra Energy remains firmly committed to environmental stewardship, transparency, and collaboration with regulatory agencies and local communities” and adding that “for nearly two decades, Gran Tierra has voluntarily invested in strengthening the local economy, improving quality of life for neighboring communities, promoting human rights, and protecting the environment.”

Barcelona are currently enduring a difficult financial situation. Over the past decade, the club have been forced to activate several economic ‘levers’ to ensure their stability — such as selling stakes in the club’s future businesses to private equity companies to raise quick cash. Struggles meeting the salary cap limit imposed by La Liga have also meant they faced difficulties registering new signings, such as midfielder Dani Olmo in 2024-25 and forward Marcus Rashford last summer.

Other parts of the organisation appear to be feeling the impact. Historically, the Barca Foundation’s accounts have publicly revealed the club provided around one-third of the charity’s resources — but their latest accounts demonstrate they are increasingly reliant on private donations.

In 2024, the club’s contribution to the Barca Foundation fell from €4million to €1m — with the charity making their first loss in eight years (€2.9m) as a result.

From 2021 onwards, the Barca Foundation has been accepting funding from a far wider range of sources — opening the door to partnerships which may undermine the work they perform.

“A player arrives and the kids are happy because they take a selfie with him,” says one indigenous leader. “The Barca Foundation thinks it has contributed to the community, but what does it fix? The damage caused by Gran Tierra is irreparable.”

According to a statement from Barcelona, the Foundation decided a year ago that they would finish their support for the Putumayo project next month, in June 2026, adding that the charity was “always monitoring the situation around its projects and partners involved.”

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Barcelona’s motto is “Més Que un Club” (“More Than a Club”) — and during the mid-2000s, Barcelona’s links with charity were an iconic part of its brand.

The club kept their shirts free of sponsorship until 2006, before paying to partner with UNICEF — supporting the charity’s work and wearing its logo.

But with star players’ wages rising, Barcelona reached a six-year deal worth €170 million with Qatar Sports Investments in 2011 — initially wearing the charitable Qatar Foundation logo, but switching after two seasons to Qatar Airways.

At that time, they received criticism for switching from advertising humanitarian causes to petro-state investments — but the club justified it by pointing to the ongoing work of the Barca Foundation, their charitable arm.

Established in 1994, the Barca Foundation has been praised for its work globally — using sport and educational programmes to improve the lives of vulnerable children. The charity estimates it reaches more than 1.5million beneficiaries around the world.

Its funding structure is unusual — a collaboration between three roughly equal sources. Historically, a third was supplied by Barcelona — the club committed in 2006 to allocating the charity with 0.7 per cent of its income budget.

Another third came from donations from players and coaching staff — 0.5 per cent of professional players and coaches’ salaries. The remaining segment came from private donations, with a small amount of public subsidies.

But in recent years, Barcelona’s financial issues have affected every facet of the club, which appears to include its charity.

In October 2024, Barcelona’s board of directors delivered their budget for 2024-25 after a difficult financial year for the football team. They stated: “In terms of cost-efficiency during the period playing at Montjuic (where they are playing during the redevelopment of Camp Nou), the club has implemented a strict policy of reviewing non-sporting expenses, limiting operational costs to those essential to keep the club running.”

In 2023-24, Barcelona’s contribution was slashed by €3m, ensuring that the club provided just 0.1 per cent of their income budget — the lowest percentage in their history. In total, the official club contribution was just 14.8 per cent — less than half the amount contributed by private donors.

In their latest accounts, delivered in October 2025, Barcelona’s contribution rose from €1m to €1.6m, though that number still remains well below their 0.7 per cent commitment at 0.2 per cent.

The Athletic asked whether the Barca Foundation were increasingly relying on private donations rather than club donations to finance programmes, but the club did not respond to that point specifically.

In 2023-24, partners included U.S. sporting apparel firm Nike, German conglomerate Allianz, and Canadian financial services firm Scotiabank.

Another of their partners is Gran Tierra. The Canadian oil company, founded in 2005, first entered Colombia in 2006 when it acquired another Canadian oil producer, Argosy Energy, which had been active since 1983.

Having produced revenues of $596.7m in 2025, the company focuses on the South American market — with its 22 oil blocks across Colombia representing 97 per cent of its production. Just under 40 per cent of its total activity is based in Putumayo.

In 2023-24, it provided €165,312 to the Barca Foundation, making it the charity’s third-largest corporate partner behind ScotiaBank (€913,755) and Allianz (€207,000). Gran Tierra then donated €123,056 in 2024-25.

On their website, Barcelona characterise their relationship with Gran Tierra as an “alliance”, while according to both their 2023-24 and 2024-25 annual reports, Gran Tierra is a “main collaborator”.

As a charity, the Barca Foundation’s mission statement asserts that it stands for improving the quality of life of vulnerable children. But according to many indigenous leaders in the community where the charity operates, its principal partner in the region is causing active harm.

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Putumayo is one of Colombia’s poorest and most troubled regions.

Geographically isolated and intensely forested, its borderland status has led to exploitation — from illegal loggers, drug traffickers, and armed militias. It was once a hotspot for the FARC-EP guerilla group, but a peace agreement with the government in 2016 failed to completely quell the violence, with new armed bands arising in their place.

Despite the wealth contained in the region’s natural resources, community leaders say they instead exist in deprivation, and allege a string of abuses from Gran Tierra, the dominant oil company in southern Putumayo.

The company’s holdings in the region span from the main hub of Villagarzon, a town of 24,000, to over 60 miles southwards on the Ecuadorian border, and are 45 miles at their widest. They operate alongside Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol on several fields, with Gran Tierra holding the majority stake in most of the co-operated areas.

They also straddle the Putumayo and Caqueta rivers, two tributaries of the Amazon which are the department’s most important water courses, as well as numerous minor streams which provide drinking water. The remote region is also home to many indigenous tribes — primarily the Inga, Nasa, Quillacinga, Embera, and Siona — as well as Mestizo Colombians.

According to ONIC, the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, some 60 per cent of the country’s tribes are at risk of extinction, with one leading factor being environmental damage that threatens their traditional way of life. One local leader says that 67 indigenous communities drink water and eat fish from rivers within Gran Tierra’s claims.

“Gran Tierra’s operations in Putumayo represent a threat to the way of life of our indigenous people,” they say.

Another local, a pineapple farmer, demonstrated to The Athletic both domestic and roadside taps that should have provided drinking water. Instead, they released what smelled like dilute petroleum.

“The fish here taste ugly, like oil,” he says. “The children that love to bathe in that water run out, saying their bodies itch.”

The evidence may not just be anecdotal. According to data released by the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA), a Colombian government regulating agency, Gran Tierra has experienced 26 ‘incidents’ in Colombia between 2015 and 2022 — with an incident defined very broadly as a leak, spill, pipeline collapse, or failure in well operations.

Gran Tierra told The Athletic that half of these reports were caused by third-party individuals, including illegal armed groups, while the remaining were minor in nature and officially closed by ANLA once clean-up actions were complete.

Villagarzon is the centre of Putumayo’s oil industry. To its east lies the Chaza block, made up of two fields — Moqueta and Costayaco. At the latter, four local farmers show The Athletic water courses polluted with crude oil.

They explain that the worst issues come during the rainy season. Much of the mud saturated in contaminants is left by Gran Tierra in shallow concrete pools — known locally as baterias. This is accepted standard practice in the region, but the baterias often overflow during storms, sending water rich in heavy metals into the streams that feed the Caqueta river. At one of these concrete pool facilities, the petroleum smell was overwhelming for several hundred metres either side of the compound. The rainbow sheen of petroleum was plainly visible in nearby surface water.

The farmers worry it means their food is not fit for consumption — though they continue to sell and eat it themselves — and believe that the polluted water has been responsible for the deaths of many of their cattle. Wild animal carcasses have also been found in contaminated rivers and creeks.

“There are people who have been drinking this water and who have become sick from one moment to the next,” claims one. “Then they died,” he adds. No one knows for sure if the water alone has caused this, but with the petrol contamination so visible and farmers reporting that there is little evidence of water quality, soil fitness or food hygiene being tested, it is easy to see why the local population is so concerned. The farmers say that Gran Tierra has water-testing specialists, but that the service isn’t reliable.

“They have f***ed us up,” claims another farmer. “That’s the simple truth. They pollute directly into the Rio Picudo (a river south-east of Villagarzon) and you can’t consume that water. The fish die. You become allergic if you bathe in it and absorb it. When you smell it, it smells like sulphur, it smells like hell, like a thousand demons.”

In response to these allegations, Gran Tierra told The Athletic that the company has 600 monitoring wells across their Colombian operations, analysing over 1,300 samples in 2024. They added that all wells have multiple barriers preventing spills, and point to external laboratory findings that “have consistently found no evidence of non-compliance or contamination linked to the company’s activities”.

Another indigenous leader says another Gran Tierra practice is the most oppressive issue — gas flaring.

Gas flaring is the burning of natural gases which result from oil extraction. Scientific studies have shown that this process, which produces large, bright orange flames, releases toxic chemicals like benzene and hydrogen sulphide into the atmosphere, as well as the greenhouse gas methane.

While often commonplace in oil-producing countries, a University of North Carolina study has found that air pollution caused by venting and flaring increases the risk of asthma and premature death significantly — blaming it for 7,500 premature deaths in the United States in 2016 — but so far, efforts to eradicate the practice have failed to be internationally adopted.

“Gran Tierra flares have been burning for the last 15 years,” says one local from the Costayaco oil field. “Not one or two of them, but dozens. We inhale the fumes every day, and they contaminate the plants and water.”

“We used to wake up in the morning and listen to the singing of birds with several melodies,” says another. “Now there’s only one that can be heard.”

Gas flaring is legal in Colombia, though NGOs and organisations such as the World Bank have called for the practice to be banned by 2030 due to its environmental and social impact.

Gran Tierra says it has “taken decisive and voluntary action to reduce the flaring of associated gas”, and has achieved an 80 per cent reduction in the practice since 2019 across its South American operations.

In Piamonte, concerns have been raised about the overground pipelines, ranging from six to 10 inches in diameter, which hug the roadside. Many appear old and worn, and are vulnerable to sabotage from paramilitary groups, or an explosion involving hot, heavy crude oil, should a vehicle come off the road and hit them.

“Cars drive just over this tube,” says one local, pointing to a pipeline embedded in the road surface. “That pipe is a time bomb for us. Even if it’s made of iron, a crude pipe has its usage time.”

These explosions have happened. One family member described a child being thrown across a room after a Gran Tierra pipeline breached. Another man, while Gran Tierra’s predecessor Argosy controlled the pipe, lost his sight after being drenched in hot crude oil following an explosion.

Having protested against Gran Tierra, labour leaders say they have subsequently suffered intimidation, death threats, and assassination attempts from unknown assailants.

“I’ve had attempts against my life, but someone is up there protecting me,” says one of them. “You hear gunshots. There was one made in July. They tried again two weeks later, and failed again.”

They do not know the identity of their attackers, but both “protection rackets” and randomised paramilitary violence are endemic across the region. According to researchers Global Witness, Colombia is the most dangerous nation in the world for environmental defenders generally, with 79 murders in 2023, just under half the global total.

Historically, the community in Putumayo has been concerned about possible links between paramilitary groups and others connected to oil companies.

In November 2022, for example, one indigenous witness reported seeing members of notorious paramilitary group Comandos de la Frontera playing soccer on protected Awá Curanzu lands with contractors for Gran Tierra.

When these allegations were reported in the local press, Gran Tierra responded by stating: “Gran Tierra Energy categorically rejects any claims linking the company to any illegal armed groups. Gran Tierra does not tolerate any contact with illegal groups by our contractors and these guidelines are explicitly included in the contracts signed by our suppliers prior to performing any work with or on behalf of Gran Tierra Energy.”

In response to The Athletic, Gran Tierra added: “Gran Tierra does not tolerate any action against or intimidation of people who exercise their legal rights. We believe that most people support responsible development, but we also respect the rights of individuals or groups to express opposing views. We value open dialogue and peaceful engagement, and we firmly reject any form of intimidation, threat, or violence.”

The oil company also highlighted that they had “consistently taken voluntary action to remediate the environmental impacts caused by third parties”, including completing a three-year initiative in 2022 to clean oil-affected water bodies in Putumayo, which created 800 local jobs.

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Before the Barca Foundation’s visit to Putumayo, the club had already been active in Colombia. In 2022, president Joan Laporta visited a different project near the Venezuelan border, also meeting with Colombian leader Gustavo Petro.

But having begun collaborating with Gran Tierra in 2019, the foundation has now been accused of complicity in sportswashing — using football to redirect attention away from unethical activity.

“Of course, this strategy is deliberate,” says one local activist. “Gran Tierra sponsors the Barca Foundation because they prefer to invest in bread and circuses than in environmental solutions or in social solutions here.

“The Foundation puts on sports, everything is supposed to be healthy, but they actually use it to wash their faces, to not show their faces because of what they are doing environmentally or socially in those territories.”

Edmilson’s visit was part of the ‘Prevention of Child Recruitment Programme’, launched alongside Gran Tierra in 2019. The Barca Foundation project helps around 2,000 local children, holding workshops, training teachers, and offering psychological support for those affected by violence.

In 2024, Edmilson visited three festivals held across the project’s locations. He first visited in February 2020, attending the Gran Tierra project in Puerto Asis, Putumayo’s largest town.

On this occasion, in May 2024, he was accompanied by former goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, who won 51 caps for Colombia, and Olympic bronze medal-winning BMX rider Carlos Oquendo.

A video of the day released by Barcelona shows children clad in both blue T-shirts and yellow training bibs emblazoned with both the Barca Foundation and Gran Tierra logos. Edmilson is filmed giving a speech, posing for selfies, running training drills, and handing out medals to the children.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” he says at the end of the visit. “Let’s keep working to nurture dreams in children’s lives.” At that point, the Barca Foundation’s video cuts to a black screen, highlighting the joint venture with Gran Tierra.

A June 2024 video report produced by weekly Colombian current affairs magazine Semana featured Edmilson speaking and playing with children. A footnote reads: “Content developed with the support of Gran Tierra Energy.”

The Athletic contacted Edmilson for comment, but the former Brazil international did not respond. The Barca Foundation website also provides a platform for Gran Tierra executives to provide their own perspective on the company’s work.

“Respect for and protection of human rights is one of Gran Tierra Energy’s essential priorities,” says Gran Tierra executive Diego Perez-Claramunt, on a webpage describing the visit.

“At the heart of the company can be found a fundamental philosophy: the company’s presence must help in improving, promoting and respecting the human rights of the people close to its operations.”

In a statement to The Athletic, Gran Tierra added that “communities are Gran Tierra’s most important partners”, stating they have initiated 53 consultations with indigenous and ethnic communities prior to beginning operations, in line with Colombian law, 85 per cent of which resulted in agreements. The company also said that its compensation agreement was focused around three areas — housing improvements, production initiatives, and community infrastructure — with 586 housing units and 12km built in the city of Puerto Asis in 2025.

However, elsewhere, such as in Villagarzon, indigenous leaders challenge its benefit to them.

One, citing this contractual requirement for Gran Tierra to design community benefit projects, mandatory under Colombian law, says: “If Gran Tierra pays this, I don’t know where it goes.”

He feels it must go somewhere else: “because there’s no development here. The only development here is bars, prostitution and cock-fighting pits.

“I’m not a declared enemy of oil companies, but I’m aware of the wealth they carry. The more they develop their products, surely the more they should help develop the people they affect?

“Legions of tankers leave here every day, but there is no money for anything good: no sport centres or skating rinks for the kids, no cultural centres, nothing with any impact. And they say we are progressing.”

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For locals, the Barca Foundation’s visit came at a concerning time.

According to Gran Tierra’s publicly declared plans, they will remain in Putumayo and could even ramp up activities.

In November 2024, the company’s corporate presentation described the Putumayo Basin as “under-explored due to past above-ground security issues” which have now been “mitigated by (the 2016) Peace Agreement.” Locals are braced for more drilling — and worry that the Barca Foundation’s support for Gran Tierra could hasten this process.

“Gran Tierra wants to escalate its operations in the area,” says one. “The connection with the Barca Foundation gives the impression of a benign and positive presence. It’s misleading, and could help Gran Tierra when they come to request permits and licences.”

The Athletic asked the Barca Foundation whether due diligence had been carried out on Gran Tierra before partnering with the oil company.

They did not respond to that query specifically, but instead provided a statement which said: “In 2019, Barça Foundation started a program, funded by Gran Tierra Energy, in Putumayo and César, Colombia, focused on community development actions to support vulnerable kids and youth in areas such as education, mental health and sport in an area with internal displaced population in one of the territories more deeply impacted by violence in the country. Barça Foundation commitment with the project with Putumayo’s and César’s communities ends on June 30, 2026.

“After seven years of developing the project with a strong social commitment, initiatives benefiting more than 5,000 children and adolescents were implemented. These activities focused on promoting social cohesion, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution. One year ago, the Foundation decided to conclude its collaboration with Gran Tierra Energy after achieving the goals initially planned. Barça Foundation is always monitoring the situation around its projects and partners involved.”

Locals feel as if they cannot wait for change.

“The indigenous peoples have been living in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years,” says an indigenous leader from Villagarzon. “We’re preserving the world’s lungs. With its pollution, its platforms, its roads, Gran Tierra is destroying them.

“FC Barcelona are so big and famous that they can have an enormous influence. They have to be very careful and support the correct cause. They shouldn’t give their great name to Gran Tierra.”