'Arrest Warrant Issued for Former Coach Im Jong-heon in "Professional Soccer Signing Bribe" Case'

Court Denies Arrest Warrant for ‘Agent and Former Yonsei University Coach’

An arrest warrant has been issued for former Ansan Greeners coach Lim Jong-heon of K League 2, the second division of professional soccer, in connection with allegations of bribery involving payments made in exchange for accepting players at professional soccer clubs.

Former Ansan Greeners coach Lim Jong-heon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 11th, Lee Min-soo, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, held a detention hearing and issued an arrest warrant for former coach Lim, citing concerns over potential evidence tampering. However, arrest warrants for agent Choi and former Yonsei University soccer team coach Shin, who allegedly provided money to Lim, were dismissed.

Judge Lee stated regarding Shin, "He has acknowledged basic facts such as receiving money, and it is difficult to see any risk of evidence tampering or flight beyond the scope of exercising his right to defense. Furthermore, at this stage, it is difficult to recognize the grounds and necessity for detention."

Regarding Choi, the judge said, "He has admitted to some offenses such as fraud, and even for the offenses he denies, he generally acknowledges basic facts such as providing money. Also, a substantial amount of evidence related to the crimes has already been secured," thus dismissing the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant.

Former coach Lim is accused of receiving 40 million won from Choi in exchange for selecting two Korean players while serving as the coach of Thailand Navy FC from 2018 to 2019. He is also charged with embezzling 60 million won from one player by falsely promising to secure professional contracts.

Choi is under investigation for giving 20 million won to coach Shin of professional club A and 7 million won to coach Kim of university B’s soccer team, along with requests to facilitate professional club admissions beyond former coach Lim. He is also accused of pocketing 20 million won from one player by falsely promising to secure a professional contract. The total amount Choi gave to soccer coaches and others from 2018 to 2021 in exchange for admission requests is 67 million won.

Shin is accused of receiving 60 million won from Choi in 2017?2018 as payment for facilitating the admission of three players to professional clubs.