Director Son Woong-jung and Two Coaches Referred for Verbal Abuse and Corporal Punishment
Party A Claims "Continuous and Repeated Verbal and Physical Abuse"
It has been confirmed that one coach involved in the child abuse incident at the 'SON Football Academy,' operated by coach Son Woong-jung, the father of player Son Heung-min, is Son Heung-yoon, Son Heung-min's older brother and the head coach. The party claiming to have been abused, A, filed a complaint against both Coach Son and Head Coach Son on the same charges. Head Coach Son retired from active play due to injury after playing for a German fifth-division team and is currently serving as the head coach at SON Football Academy.
Son Woong-jung, the father of national soccer player Son Heung-min and director of SON Soccer Academy, is speaking at a press conference for his interview collection "I Read, Write, and Discard" held on the morning of the 17th at the Francisco Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Yonhap News]
The party A alleged to the Incheon Dongbu Sunflower Center that the coaching staff, including the Son father and son, repeatedly subjected youth players affiliated with the academy to verbal abuse, insults, and physical violence. In particular, Head Coach Son Heung-yoon is understood to have verbally abused A and inflicted corporal punishment causing injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment. The statement details the specific abuses Head Coach Son inflicted on the children.
During the training camp in Okinawa last March, Head Coach Son Heung-yoon allegedly assaulted A and four other children. During a drill where the children repeatedly ran between goalposts within a time limit, the children were made to lie face down and were struck on the buttocks and thighs with a corner kick pole for failing to meet the coaches' standards.
A testified, "He said if we couldn't get in, we would be hit. I thought it was a joke, but four of us were hit." The statement also includes that Head Coach Son, smiling, told A, who had bruises on his thighs, "You hit too hard." A suffered bruising with bleeding on his thigh due to the beating, and another child who was also beaten was unable to walk for some time. There were also statements that Coach Son Woong-jung verbally abused the children. A said, "On March 7, after going to Japan, during a passing game, I was scolded by Coach Son Woong-jung for making a mistake. He grabbed my neck and pushed me while saying, 'Hey XXX, watch carefully, XXX.'"
Regarding allegations that Coach Son demanded hundreds of millions of won in settlement money, party A explained, "Coach Son's lawyer proposed conditions including a settlement of several tens of millions of won, a ban on media coverage, a waiver of punishment, and a prohibition on disciplinary requests to the Football Association." They added, "I was angry and refused the settlement, but they repeatedly pressured me by increasing the settlement amount, so in frustration, I said, 'If you really want to settle, bring 500 million won.'"
In response to the incident, Coach Son released a statement to Yonhap News, saying, "An investigation is currently underway regarding the harsh language used during recent academy training and corporal punishment during physical training," and "I deeply apologize to the children and their families who have been emotionally hurt." He continued, "The academy is fully cooperating with the investigation without distorting or hiding the facts," and emphasized, "I swear on everything I have that there was never any behavior or language from the academy coaches that was not based on love for the children."
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