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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Rakuten, who completed FC Barcelona's Japan tour with the help of Korea, is likely to return to the main sponsor.
Spanish sports magazine Elmundoderovtivo reported on the 3rd (Korea time) that Rakuten, once the main sponsor of Barcelona, is again interested in collaboration. Rakuten has been a full sponsor of Barcelona's uniforms for five years from 2017 to 2022. The current full sponsor is Spotify.
The possibility of re-collaboration between Barcelona and Rakuten was raised by the Japanese tour. Barcelona, which was supposed to have a pre-season match with Vissel Kobe operated by Rakuten, announced the cancellation of the game just before leaving Japan, citing the promoter's serious breach of contract. In response, Hiroshi Mikitani, chairman of Rakuten and owner of Kobe, came forward, and in the end, the Barcelona team departed for Japan the next day and held a friendly match with Kobe.
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| ◇photo source=Barcelona club website |
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In the process, Korean businessmen were found to have played a significant role. Chairman Mikitani, who paid for the 5 million euros (about 8.1 billion won) tour that Barcelona was supposed to receive at his own expense, contacted Tony Fernandez, chairman of AirAsia, who he was close to to to solve the flight problem. However, there were charter flights and airspace issues requiring permission at least 10 days ago, and I found that the only way was to revive the Korean Air charter flight that Barcelona originally tried to use. In response, Chairman Fernandez contacted Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, and asked him to contact Korean Air, and Chairman Chung Mong-kyu asked for help from Yoo Seung Min, president of the Korean Sports Council, which has a deep relationship with Korean Air. Yoo Seung Min asked Korean Air Chairman Cho Won-tae to solve the problem, and Barcelona's short-lived trip to Japan was completed as Chairman Cho Won-tae readily accepted it. Chairman 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 the Barcelona match could be dampened, everyone wanted to be helpful as sportsmen, soccer players, and businessmen."
Barcelona's confidence in Mikitani and Rakuten seems to have soared due to this. Spanish sports magazine Sroert evaluated that `Rakuten helped Barcelona to convenience as well as pay for the tour, even though he was not the organizer of the match.' Barcelona Chairman Joan Laporta also thanked Chairman Mikitani after visiting Korea, and at the same time hinted at the possibility of collaboration with Rakuten.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
