Waving flag with Tottenham Hotspur football team logo. Editorial 3D
Prosecutors have questioned Son Woong-jung, the director of his namesake football academy and the father of South Korean football star Son Heung-min, regarding his alleged child abuse, sources reported on Wednesday.
According Korean reports, Son and two of his coaches at Son Football Academy were questioned by prosecutors in Chuncheon, about 75 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Tuesday on allegations that they had verbally and physically mistreated a young player. The town in Gangwon Province is also home to the academy.
The older brother of Heung-min, Son Heung-yoon, has been named as one of the coaches.
After the player’s training camp in Okinawa, Japan, his parents noticed a bruise on their son’s thigh and reported the elder Son, 62, and the two instructors to the authorities in March.
While Son Woong-jung is accused of verbally abusing the player for making mistakes during training, the other two coaches are accused of hitting the youngster.
The three accused coaches were summoned by the prosecution for the first time this week after the Gangwon Provincial Police transferred the case to them in April.
The elder Son has refuted claims that he or his instructors have mistreated him. In addition, the 62-year-old stated that the athlete was prepared to assist law enforcement and that the player’s parents had leveled unfounded charges against him.
Following the public release of these claims on Wednesday, Son Woong-jung went ahead with his scheduled signing of his second essay in Seoul later that same day.
Son, a former player, has gained more notoriety recently for having raised one of the best football players in South Korean history. Son Heung-min, who became the first Asian player to win the Premier League Golden Boot as the top scorer in 2022, learned discipline from him, and this has attracted a lot of attention from the media in South Korea and beyond. (Yonhap)
