Rakuten CEO explains how Barcelona’s Japan tour issue was solved – ‘Hardest task we have ever taken on’ | OneFootball

Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten and president of Vissel Kobe, played a major role in fixing the issues that almost led to the cancellation of Barcelona’s friendly match in Japan.

The game, set to be played against Vissel Kobe, was briefly suspended due to serious contract breaches. But thanks to Mikitani’s quick action, the situation was handled, and the match is back on schedule.

In a conversation with Football Zone (h/t SPORT), Mikitani opened up about how tough it was to sort everything out in time.

“This might have been the hardest task we’ve ever taken on,” he said. “We handled the flight, the logistics, everything — both directly and through connections.”

Calling in favours

Mikitani explained how he used his personal and professional network to get things done. He first reached out to Gerard Pique, who helped him get in touch with Alejandro Echevarria.

Once that connection was made, they worked on rearranging the flight that had become a major hurdle.

Barcelona’s friendly in Japan was almost canceled. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

“Through Pique, I spoke directly with Alejandro Echevarria and then we organised the flight again.

“I have a friend named Tony Fernandez (CEO) of AirAsia Group, so I asked him to call the president of Korean Air and various aviation authorities to make sure that the flight could fly. Korean Air was very flexible in its response.”

Payment issues and legal action

Another problem came from a third-party developer company, which had not paid nearly €5 million related to the event.

Mikitani did not go into too much detail about the money but confirmed that the matter is now being handled by lawyers.

After meeting with Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Mikitani also shared that nearly all tickets have now been sold.

With the situation under control, he ended on a hopeful note: “Now I just hope everyone enjoys the match.”