September 16 – South Korea’s Suwon FC are reported to have terminated international midfielder Son Jun-ho’s contract by mutual agreement after he was handed a lifetime ban by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) for his alleged involvement in match-fixing and bribery.
Son has denied the accusations made by Chinese authorities who announced last week that he was among 38 players banned.
The 32-year-old, who had been playing at the time in the Chinese Super League with Shandong Taishan FC, insists he had to make a false confession under duress in order to be freed from nearly 10 months of detention. But he apparently agreed to have his current contract ended.
“With the idea that we can no longer leave our fans who have been supporting the players and the team all year in confusion, the club has accepted a request by Son to terminate his contract that he made out of consideration for his teammates and fans,” Suwon FC said in a statement.
Son had hoped to continue his career with Suwon after he returned from China in March. But his prospects became uncertain after South Korean media reported that the CFA had referred his case to FIFA.
Last week he broke down in tears as he denied match-fixing and accused China of blackmail.
Son, who appeared in three of South Korea’s four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, said his arrest had been an “overwhelming shock”.
He said he had been threatened by Chinese police with his family, including his children, used as bargaining chips to force him to confess to the charges.
“The Chinese police presented ridiculous charges,” he said. “They threatened that if I didn’t admit to the charges, my wife would be arrested through the foreign ministry and brought to the same detention centre to be investigated with me.”
He said he was not given adequate Korean translations or access to a lawyer, and when he realised Chinese police were accusing him of bribery, he was “dumbfounded”.
“I said I hadn’t done anything like that,” the 32-year-old said, constantly having to stop talking to wipe away tears.
Son was held “on suspicion of accepting bribes by non-state employees” without being given details and said his family were used to extract a confession.
“While showing me pictures of my daughter and son on my phone, they pressured me, saying: ‘What did the children do to deserve this?’,” Son told reporters.
“‘If your wife comes here too, how will the kids manage? Don’t you think your children want to see their father? So admit it quickly’.”
He said he was offered a deal by Chinese police, who told him if he admitted his guilt he would be released quickly.
“Overwhelmed with fear and concern for my family, I had no choice but to admit to charges I didn’t even understand, just to return to my family quickly,” he said.
He said Chinese police should release the audio files of his interrogation to show “how they coerced a confession from me.”
“I want to clear my name with absolute transparency. The only evidence they had was my false confession, obtained through the intense pressure of their early interrogation tactics.”
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