Son Heung-min’s father has been indicted on charges of abusing children at a training centre funded by the Tottenham Hotspur star.
Son Woong-jung is one of three coaches accused of physically and verbally abusing young players who are part of the Son Football Academy in South Korea.
The 32-year-old Spurs forward’s older brother Heung-yun was another of the coaches ‘summarily indicted’ by prosecutors today, according to the Yonhap news agency.
All three men have been ordered to pay an ‘undisclosed fine’ and must ‘complete a training program designed to prevent further child abuse’.
Woong-jung, 62, is well-known in South Korea for his time as a professional player, also as a striker, as well as his work at the training facility in the city of Chuncheon, around 45 miles north-east of Seoul, the country’s capital.
If he and his fellow defendants choose not to seek a public trial, the order put forward by the prosecutors will be finalised.
It comes after Woong-jung and two of his assistant coaches were reported to police by the parents of one of the players.
They claimed their son had sustained injuries to his thigh area and required two weeks of treatment after he was struck with a corner flag by Heung-yun at a training camp in Okinawa, Japan, in March this year.
The youngster’s parents also allege that Woong-jung hurled profanities at players for making mistakes during those sessions.
Video footage showed Woong-jung kicking a player during a match and other coaches swearing at the children, according to Yonhap’s report.
Woong-jung has denied the charges levelled against him and his staff, claiming that anything done at the academy was only out of ‘love for the players’.
He has previously admitted hitting a student with a corner flag for ‘coming last in a race’, for which he apologised but didn’t agree it amounted to ‘physical abuse’.
‘This incident was not corporal punishment but a mutually agreed event as part of fitness training,’ he said in a statement at the time, claiming the player was supposed to be ‘hit once’ on the thigh.
But the boy’s father told Yonhap: ‘Thinking about how frightened my son must have been makes me angry.
‘I decided to report the case to the police because I didn’t want to see another case like this.’
Son’s dad is credited with helping the Tottenham striker develop into one of the best players in world football, having scored 164 goals in 410 appearances for the north London club, as well as netting 48 times in 127 games for the South Korea national side.
The Son Football Academy – which boasts six pitches, a classroom and clubhouse – cost around £11million to construct, according to The Athletic.
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