Son Jun-ho (32), a former midfielder of the national team whose career is at a crossroads, said this. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) officially announced the disciplinary action against Son Jun-ho through an official letter on the 10th. "Former Shandong Taishan player Son Jun-ho participated in unjustified transactions to manipulate soccer matches and earn illegal profits in order to promote unjustified profits. Any activities related to Son Jun-ho's soccer will be banned for life." If the CFA handed over 61 players involved in match-fixing and illegal transactions to FIFA, and FIFA cites the CFA's permanent removal as it is, Son Jun-ho will not be allowed to do anything related to soccer in any league in the world.
The day after the shocking announcement, the press conference, in which Son Joon-ho was curious to express his unfairness, became a poison. Rather than making a false statement at a press conference near two hours after showing photos of his son and daughter and family members and being forced to conciliate them, the fact that he was released after admitting to receiving money from the Chinese judiciary, and that he received 200,000 yuan (about 37 million won) from his teammate Jin Jing-dao (Kim Kyung-do), but he did not remember the source was highlighted as a bigger suspicion. As public pressure grew after the press conference, Suwon FC decided to terminate the contract with Son Joon-ho on the 13th after much consideration. At the time of the June contract, there was a clause in the contract that said, "We can discuss termination of the contract if there is a problem with the player's activities due to the day before joining the team."
Despite the Chuseok holiday being pushed to the brink, Son has made it clear that he intends to express his unfairness. Suspicion grew after the press conference, but Son consistently insists that he was never involved in match fixing. In fact, he argues that if he were involved in match fixing, he would not have come to Korea, joined Suwon FC under Choi Soon-ho, his teacher, or dreamed of re-election for the national team. Son is preparing legal action through a lawyer. If FIFA accepts China's claim as it is, it will fight to the end and regain its reputation. However, the situation is not easy. Regarding the unprecedented incident in China, Son does not even have a verdict. Not many people know the truth, all the evidence is in China, and there is no way to secure favorable evidence or enter the country again.
At a press conference, Son Joon-ho said, "The public security showed my daughter and son on my phone and said, 'What are the children guilty?' and asked how the children would be doing if their mother came here. I forced them to admit it quickly." Asked by an AFP reporter, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Ning said, "Chinese law enforcement authorities publicly declared Son Joon-ho on bribery charges in March, and Son admitted his guilt, repented of his mistakes in court and said he would not appeal. China is a rule of law. Law enforcement agencies strictly deal with cases in accordance with the law and sufficiently protect the legal rights and interests of the parties concerned." Son Joon-ho said, "I met with the consul once or twice a month in the detention center, but we had a health check and conversation about whether the life in the detention center was okay. An official from the Korea Football Association came to China, but there was nothing I could do because we couldn't meet at all." 메이저놀이터
In the current situation, it is also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is closest to Son Joon-ho's truth. The only person who contacted Son Joon-ho in China is the Chinese consul. When Son Joon-ho was released and returned home in March after 10 months of being taken into custody by Chinese police on charges of "non-state workers accepting", an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The government has requested cooperation to communicate with the Chinese authorities through various channels so that prompt and fair procedures can proceed. We communicated closely with domestic families, conducted consular meetings about 20 times, and actively provided necessary assistance, including smooth interview support with lawyers. Please understand that the relevant details are related to the personal information and cannot be confirmed."
"We have been watching the Son Joon-ho scandal for a long time, and we are still keeping a close eye on it," said an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As Son said, it is not easy for an individual to win a match against a country. China, which detained a Korean national soccer player for 10 months, put him on a list of permanent removal from the match-fixing list and handed him over to FIFA, cannot afford to admit, as Son claimed, issues that could escalate into serious diplomatic issues such as human rights abuses. As Son admitted accepting bribes, legal evidence is also at a disadvantage. Son said in a press conference that the judge and a high-ranking Chinese official said, "You can never go without charges. If you don't admit anything, you will get into trouble diplomatically. You have to admit even a small crime." When he was released after admitting that he received 200,000 yuan, the judge and a high-ranking Chinese official said, "You should never do this. If you do, I will make it a big problem so I won't let you play soccer," which ultimately mattered.
A member of the Korean national soccer team, who is the breadwinner of the Korean people, and has dedicated his youth to soccer, is appealing to the public for the hardships and unfairness that he suffered during the investigation process in other countries. There are too few objective evidences other than the announcement by the Chinese Football Association regarding Son Joon-ho's allegations and his own press conference. The basic premise is that there should be no compromise on the match-fixing offender. It is a de facto death sentence to tell a soccer player not to do everything related to soccer. To give such a strong disciplinary action, a clear and abundant evidence must be secured and a sufficient process of explanation must be established. Some players who received permanent expulsion from the Supreme Court in 2011 from the K-League have won successive lawsuits against the Korea Football Association. According to the case where the permanent expulsion was cancelled, it was questioned whether sufficient due process of explanation and retrial procedures were given during the disciplinary process at the time of the incident. While the case that everyone witnessed at the K-League site will be so serious 13 years later, the case that took place in other countries requires more detailed information, evidence and procedures.
Communication between the Korean and Chinese governments is also urgently needed to protect their citizens. It is necessary to check the investigation process of Jinjingdao who handed over the money to Son, what Son's allegations were made in Shanghai Sanggang, which was designated as a match-fixing match, and whether there were any violations of human rights during the investigation process, and to obtain and disclose accurately the verdict and the details of the case's involvement to dispel unfairness and suspicions among fans.