The father of the star Tottenham, Son Heung-minand coaches at its training center in South Korea are the subject of a mistreatment complaint, filed by a student’s family, the South Korean press reported on Wednesday.
South Korean media reported allegations of physical and verbal abuse against one of the students at the academy run by Son Woong-jung: a coach allegedly hit the player with a corner flag during training, which caused damage that required several weeks of treatment.
The former footballer himself, Son Woong-jung, 62, admitted the incident happened, but denied it was physical abuse. “This incident was not corporal punishment, but one that was mutually agreed upon as part of physical training,” the Korean Premier League international’s father said in a statement. He added that the player was last in a race and had to receive “a punch” in the thigh.
In March, the young player’s parents filed a police report, supporting a photo of the alleged injury. The latter was published by Yonhap news agency. “Thinking about the fear my son felt, I feel angry,” the student’s father said, according to Yonhap news agency. “I decided to report the matter to the police because I don’t want a case like this to happen again.”
Son Woong-jung said he tried to resolve the matter amicably, but the parents demanded a settlement worth several hundred million won (hundreds of thousands of euros). “We are currently awaiting a fair trial based on the facts,” he said in the statement.
Son admitted that his training methods do not meet the new standards on players’ rights: “I will do some soul-searching to make up for insisting on my method.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
