Son Heung-min's father accused of child abuse at soccer academy

Son Woong-jung, father of South Korea national soccer team captain Son Heung-min, and two of the coaches at his soccer academy have been accused of verbally and physically abusing a youth athlete, local police said Wednesday.

Parents of the child in question filed a complaint with authorities on March 19 against Son and two coaches at the Son Football Academy, where the elder Son is the director, in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. They said that Son had verbally abused their son for making mistakes and failing to keep up with the training during a March 7-12 training camp on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

A coach of the academy was also accused of beating the boy with a corner flag on March 9. The young athletes were instructed to run from the goal post to the halfway line within 20 seconds, and four who failed to do so were allegedly struck with the flagstick while in a pushup position.

The parents say they learned of the punishment when they found a bruise on their son's thigh after he came back from the camp.

Another coach has been accused of repeatedly beating athletes on the buttocks and thighs in their living quarters, with additional claims that the coach pulled the boys' hair or hit them on the head.

In a statement sent to Yonhap News Agency, Son Woong-jung apologized to the youth athlete and his family, but said "much of their claims are different from the truth."

Son said the alleged beatings were a form of corporal punishment, and that his coaches beat the young athletes with the plastic corner flag just once on the thigh. He added that coaches at the academy never engaged in actions that were not based in love for the players.

"I regret that I have failed to recognize the changing times and standards set by the law, and instructed the children in my own way. I vow to find another way, so the kids will be able to concentrate the best they can on the field and commit to the training," he was quoted as saying.

Son also claimed that the young athlete's parents had requested "hundreds of millions of won" in compensation, which the academy was unable to accept.

The legal representative of the youth athlete and his family accused Son of portraying his clients as greedy and looking to cash in on a large settlement, and said the legal actions were recourse for their anger toward the alleged consistent abuse.

Son, 62, is himself a former soccer player who has become best known as the father of Son Heung-min, a star player for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League who is already considered among the best players in Korean history. His disciplinary training of the eventual 2022 Golden Boot winner -- including his open admission of corporal punishment of his son -- has been a topic of interest and controversy with South Korean fans.