South Korean prosecutors informed AFP on Friday that Son Heung-min's father and brother, Tottenham Hotspur star, have been fined in a child abuse case. Son Woong-jung, a prominent figure in South Korea, authored a best-selling memoir about how he helped his son become one of the top strikers in the English Premier League. He manages a football academy where his elder son, Son Heung-yun, served as a coach. In April, the duo along with another coach were accused of physically and verbally abusing a 12-year-old student. Prosecutors announced on Friday that they have fined Son Woong-jung, Son Heung-yun, and a coach under the Child Welfare Act and Child Abuse Punishment Act, without disclosing the amount of the fine. Additionally, all three were mandated to participate in child abuse treatment programs.
The family of the student, referred to only as Kim, alleged that a coach struck him with a corner flag during training, resulting in injuries that necessitated several weeks of treatment. Kim reported to police that he was subjected to foul language just weeks after joining Son senior's academy in November. "I was reprimanded by coach Son for an error during a passing practice," Kim claimed in an interview. Son senior, aged 62, admitted the incident but refuted that it constituted physical abuse. "This incident was not corporal punishment but an agreed-upon event as part of fitness training," he stated. Son Heung-yun previously mentioned that he and Son Heung-min were frequently hit by their father during training, a practice that is uncommon nowadays. "Some of our neighbors even questioned whether he was our real father," he revealed in a 2019 interview with AFP.
