The father of Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min has admitted hitting one of his South Korean football academy students with a corner flag after denying allegations of physical and verbal abuse.
Son Woong-jung, a former footballer who rose to fame in South Korea thanks to his son’s success, runs a training academy for aspiring players.
Son senior has also written a best-selling book, in which he describes his footballing philosophy and details how he helped his son become one of the best strikers in the Premier League.
South Korean media reported on Wednesday about allegations of physical and verbal abuse by one of the students at his football academy, who claimed a coach hit him with a corner flag during training, causing injuries that required weeks of treatment.
The 62-year-old son acknowledged that the incident had occurred, but denied that there was any physical violence.
“This incident was not corporal punishment, but a mutually agreed upon event as part of fitness training,” he said in a statement.
The player came last in a race, he said, and had to take “one hit” on his thigh.
The incident came to light after the parents of young player Son senior reported the incident to police in March after noticing a bruise on their son’s thigh.
They provided a photo of the alleged injury, which was published by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
“When I think about how scared my son must have been, I get angry,” the father said, Yonhap reported.
“I decided to file a police report because I didn’t want to experience another case like this.”
Son Sr. said he had tried to resolve the matter amicably but was unable to do so because the parents had demanded a settlement worth hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of dollars).
“We are currently awaiting a fair legal judgment based on facts,” he said in the statement.
Son admitted his coaching methods did not meet new standards regarding players’ human rights.
“I will reflect on myself in penance for having stuck to my method while failing to keep pace with the limits set by the changing times and laws.”
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
