SUWON: South Korean World Cup player Son Jun-ho broke down in tears Wednesday as he denied match-fixing and accused China of blackmail after they banned him for life. Son, who played for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, was accused by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) of participating in match-fixing and bribery, and was detained in May last year.

The midfielder, who appeared in three of South Korea’s four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, returned to South Korea in March. But he was one of 43 people banned for life this week by Chinese authorities over alleged gambling and match-fixing in the domestic game.

A weeping and visibly emotional Son told reporters that his arrest had been an “overwhelming shock”. He said he was threatened by Chinese police and his family, including his children, were used as bargaining chips to force him to confess.

“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 said he was not given adequate Korean translations or access to a lawyer, and when he realized 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 he 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. He said police told him: “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.”

Son added that 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.” 

Son’s agent Park Dae-yeon said he believed the player was unlikely to face sanctions from global body FIFA because China had not provided any evidence of wrongdoing. FIFA did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has deepened a crackdown on corruption in Chinese sports in recent years, especially football, and jailed numerous top officials. Xi is a self-confessed football fanatic who has said he dreams of China hosting and winning the World Cup.

But that ambition appears further away than ever after repeated corruption scandals and years of disappointing results on the pitch. The banned 43 were mostly players who were among a total of 128 people implicated in a two-year probe into illegal gambling and match-fixing in the domestic game, according to state media.

Following his return home earlier this year, Son joined a team in South Korea’s fifth tier before switching to Suwon in the K League top division. Son was not selected for the national squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers over the past week. — AFP