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| Behind Barcelona's surprise trip to Kobe was the hotline of Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, Yoo Seung Min, president of the Korea Sports Council, and Cho Won-tae, vice chairman of the Korea Sports Council (Chairman of Korean Air). |
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| Barcelona superstar Ramin Yamal on a Korean Air charter flight to Kobe, Japan Photo =Barcelona club |
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After Barcelona's Asian tour, which was almost canceled, there was a silent help from the heads of sports in Korea.
Barcelona, led by coach Han Ji-flick, will visit Korea after a friendly match with Japan's Vissel Kobe on the 27th. He will meet Korean fans ahead of the FC Seoul match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 31st.
Barcelona's Asian tour once faced cancellation. Barcelona officially announced on the 24th that it could not play pre-season games scheduled in Japan due to serious violations of the promoter's contract, and soccer circles around the world, including Japan, Korea, and Spain, were turned upside down. Ham Seul, CEO of the Asian tour promoter company 'DDrive', said "It has been revealed that Yasuda Group, a joint promoter of Japan, embezzled the balance of 10 billion won in charges to be paid by Rakuten, a Japanese sponsor. The incident is a one-sided problem on the Japanese side and has nothing to do with the Korean tour. We will take legal action against the Yasuda Group." Since then, Rakuten Chairman Hiroshi Mikitani, who is also Barcelona's sponsor, has completed the deposit of the charge needed to resolve the situation, and Barcelona has changed its position in a day. The trip to Japan has been decided again.
The money issue was dramatically resolved, but the biggest problem was charter flights. The previously scheduled flight schedule for Korean Air charter flights has been delayed, causing disruption in movement. It was virtually impossible to re-prepare a plane for a large squad to board in a day. The sports-loving company-global aviation network has been activated in an emergency at a time when it is on the verge of losing 45 billion won again.
Rakuten Chairman Mikitani hit an SOS to AirAsia Chairman Tony Fernandez, who was close to him. Fernandez is the CEO of soccer, who hired Park Ji-sung when he was the owner of the Queens Park Rangers, and his wife is a Korean-American businessman. He has also maintained a long-standing friendship with Ham Seul. The issue of flying AirAsia's Boeing 777, owned by Fernandez, back to a chartered plane was discussed, but emergency allocation was not possible under the Aviation Security Act, which requires completion of reporting 10 days before takeoff. The only way is to revive the existing Korean Air charter flight schedule. For this, Korean Air needed a decision. Chairman Fernandez asked Chung Mong-kyu, chairman of the Korea Football Association, for emergency help on the night of the 24th. Chairman Chung contacted the chairman of the Korean Sports Council Yoo Seung Min to explain the situation, and Chairman Yoo connected Korean Air Chairman Cho Won-tae (President of the Korean Volleyball Federation) and Chairman Chung to resolve the situation. Chairman Yoo Seung Min had been working together on the board of directors of the Korean Olympic Committee since he was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Chairman Chung was the head of the team. Chairman Yoo, who was particularly cherished by the late Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho when he was chairman of the Korea Table Tennis Association, has also had a strong relationship with Chairman Cho Won-tae. Chairman Cho and Korean Air continued to support the table tennis world before and after Chairman Yoo's election as an IOC member, but also even though he was not the chairman of the Korea Table Tennis Association. The first place Chairman Yoo visited immediately after the election of the chairman of the Korean Sports Council was the grave of late Chairman Cho Yang-ho, and Chairman Cho Won-tae accepted the position of vice chairman of the Korean Sports Council after Yoo's inauguration and expressed generous trust and support.
The hotline of Chairman Chung Mong-gyu and Chairman Cho Won-tae was connected by Chairman Chung Mong-gyu and Chairman Cho Won-tae of the 'Young Sports Head' Yoo Seung Min. It was a sense of urgency that the tour in Seoul and Daegu for Korean fans could continue only when the Japanese tour goes well normally. Long after 10 p.m., the midnight emergency contact network was operated breathlessly, and soon after Chairman Cho communicated with Chairman Fernandez and Chairman Rakuten, the Warsaw squad dramatically boarded a flight to Kobe, Japan on the 25th.
Behind Warsaw's trip to Kobe was the sincerity of South Korean sports leaders. Chairman of the Korean Sports Council Yoo Seung Min said "Even though it was late at night, Chairman Chung Mong-gyu and Chairman Cho Won-tae moved as if it were their own business. In a situation where the dreams and hopes of children and soccer fans who have been waiting for Barcelona's game could be dampened, everyone wanted to be helpful as sportsmen, soccer players, and businessmen. It is fortunate that it also helped the sports diplomacy of Korean private companies, which almost faced a major crisis, and the trust of Asian companies. Everyone is happy because of this." CEO Hamseul D-Drive also belatedly learned that there was a quick help from Korean businessmen and sportsmen behind Rakuten and AirAsia. All three chairmen helped silently. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I would also like to thank the Korean Air employees. I also conveyed this to Rakuten and Barcelona."
Reporter Jeon Young-ji sky4us@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
