Barcelona initially announced Japan leg of tour had been cancelled
Promoter blames conglomerate Yasuda Group for payment issues
Former main sponsor Rakuten covers unpaid €5m fees
Spanish soccer giant Barcelona have confirmed they will travel to Japan as part of their tour to Asia this summer, after their former sponsor Rakuten Group helped settle a dispute with the tour’s promoter.
The LaLiga outfit initially announced earlier this week that it had withdrawn a friendly against J-League club Vissel Kobe on 27th July, due to ‘serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter’.
In a subsequent statement, the chief executive of D-Drive, the company responsible for promoting Barcelona’s stop in Japan, attributed blame to the Yasuda Group, alleging that the Japanese conglomerate had failed to make a payment for the game to go ahead.
The Yasuda Group already holds ties to Spanish soccer as a sponsor of Real Sociedad, another LaLiga club who are also touring Japan.
“D-Drive was scheduled to receive full payment for the match today; however, the funds never arrived,” said Seul Ham, D-Drive chief executive stated “Instead, Yasuda Group repeatedly submitted invalid and falsified documents, falsely claiming that the payment had already been transferred to Korea.
‘We have obtained an audio recording in which a Yasuda Group employee confirms that their chief executive ultimately withheld the payment—clear evidence of deliberate fraud. As a result of this fraudulent conduct, the public image of Rakuten has suffered considerable damage.
“Given the circumstances, FC Barcelona has made the correct and responsible decision to cancel the match in Japan. We will pursue legal action against the responsible Japanese entities to recover damages.”
However, Barcelona released a subsequent statement announcing that the team was now headed for Japan, after ‘the club and the promoter have resolved the issues’. The match against Vissel Kobe is now set to be played on its original date.
According to multiple reports, Rakuten came forward to cover the unpaid amount of €5 million (US$5.87 million). The company, which also owns Vissel Kobe, was previously a main sponsor of Barcelona from 2017 to 2022. With the payment made, Barcelona departed for Japan.
The Spanish team reportedly have already gained €15 million (US$17.6 million) in match and promotional fees, and stood to earn a total between €20 million (US$23.5 million) and €25 million (US$29.3 million) from the tour.
After playing Vissel Kobe, Barcelona travels to South Korea to play two games. In its statement, D-Drive said the matches in South Korea were not affected by the dispute.
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AloJapan.com