New Barcelona sponsor Rakuten have come under fire in the days since a four-year deal worth a minimum of €220m to the Catalan club was signed, after it has become apparent that the Japanese e-commerce giant is still serving as a platform for people to buy and sell whale meat and ivory online.
Rakuten was exposed in 2014 by the Environmental Investigation Agency to be the world's biggest online marketplace for whale products and elephant ivory, and the conservationists are once more putting pressure on the multi-billion dollar company now that hasties with Barça.
EIA spokesman: "Barcelona are now in position to force Rakuten to stop elephant slaughtering and selling ivory and whale meat online."
In the 2014 report, there were said to be more than 28,000 adverts for ivory and 1,200 for whale carried by the Rakuten website. And while whaling remains legal in Japan, it was noted that some of the whale products available to buy on Rakuten also failed to list the particular species, which breaks local labelling laws.
Rakuten had pledged to end all sales of whale and dolphin meat by the end of April 2014. However, in light of the fresh wave of criticism in the wake of the lucrative Barcelona deal, it seems that did not happen as appeared to be planned.
The Rakuten name and branding will be prominently displayed on the front of Barcelona shirts as of the start of the 2017/18 season and will remain there until at least the end of the 2020/21 campaign, longer if a deal to renew the partnership is agreed.
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