Lotte CEO: Pique helped me contact Barcelona executives and finally successfully got Barcelona to participate in the competition

Barcelona's trip to Japan this summer has been full of twists and turns, and Lotte Group CEO Hiroshi Mikitani talked about this matter.

Barcelona arranged a Japanese warm-up match on July 27, and its opponent was Kobe Victory Ship. However, because the organizer of the game failed to pay the fee in a timely manner, Barcelona once announced the cancellation of the game. The problem was finally resolved, and Barcelona arrived in Japan to prepare for the competition. Hiroshi Mikitani is the CEO of Lotte Group and the owner of Kobe Victory Ship Club. He accepted an interview.

Hiroshi Mikitani said: "I think it is best for our lawyer to explain the relevant details later, because there are legal issues. But in fact, the relevant fees did not come. With the cooperation of many parties, we solved the matter."

Hiroshi Mikitani continued: "I turned on my phone and learned that Barcelona would not come. I didn't understand what happened. From that moment on, I began to contact Pique through various direct or indirect ways. I contacted Pique, and Pique helped me contact Alejandro Echevaria, the right-hand assistant of the chairman of the Barcelona club, and talked directly to him."

Due to the delay of Barcelona's flight, Hiroshi Mikitani also helped Barcelona contact the new flight. "I asked Tony Fernandez, President of Air Asia, to contact the president of Korean Air and the aviation authorities, and we asked them to arrange the relevant matters. They made flexible handling and helped us a lot. I have been querying: Take off? Take off?"

Finally, Hiroshi Mikitani said: "I am glad we were able to hold this game in the end. If it was not successfully held, I think it would be a complete failure. Now I am very happy. This crisis is one of the most difficult tasks I have faced so far. It is really difficult and seems to be an impossible task, but we managed to do it in the end."