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Barcelona fans in Saudi Arabia won't be punished for wearing their team's colours, the government has announced.

Barca shirts sporting the Qatar Airways sponsorship logo were said to have been outlawed with prison sentences up to 15 years amid tensions in the Gulf region.

However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture and Information told the Mirror: "There is no law in Saudi Arabia banning Barcelona shirts, nor are there any fines or prisons sentences in relation to this, as the story implies."

A diplomatic row has seen Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE, blacklist entities and individuals that they believed connected Qatar to extremist groups.

Qatar rejects the claims.

(Image: Getty) (Image: Getty)

Saudi Arabia shut its borders to Qatar and closed transport links between the countries, including flights, and suspended diplomatic relations.

This could have a knock-on effect for preparations for the 2022 World Cup, restricting access to the country for the supply of materials for on-going building projects.

Qatari blogger Raed Al-Emadi showed how censorship is being conducted in the country, with an image of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez blanking out the sponsor.

(Image: Getty)

Barcelona's deal with the Qatar Sports Investment in 2011 was historic for the club as it was the first time the Catalans had a sponsor on their shirt.

That deal ends on June 30 when Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company, takes Qatar Airways' place for the 2017-18 season.