'Permanently Banned' Son Jun-ho: "Chinese Police Threatened Me by Talking About My Family, So I Made a False Confession"
'Permanently Banned' Son Jun-ho: "Chinese Police Threatened Me by Talking About My Family, So I Made a False Confession"
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Son Jun-ho (32, Suwon FC), who was in danger of ending his career as a player after being permanently banned from the Chinese Football Association on match-fixing charges, tearfully appealed his grievances, saying that Chinese police threatened him by mentioning his family and forced him to admit to the charges.
At a press conference held at the Suwon Sports Complex Gymnasium on the afternoon of the 11th, Son Jun-ho claimed, "The Chinese police threatened to arrest my wife through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have her interrogated in the same detention center as I was."
He then showed me photos of his daughter and son on his phone and said, 'What crime have the children committed? What will happen to the children if their mother comes here too?' and pressured me to quickly admit to the charges," he said, weeping.
Son Jun-ho appeared smiling, wearing a black Suwon FC training suit top and bottom, and looked around at the 50 or so reporters in a relaxed manner, but as soon as the press conference began, he kept shedding tears and wiping his eyes.
Son Jun-ho said, "The Chinese police told me that if I admit the charges now, I could be released in 7-15 days at the earliest. They tried to persuade me by saying that I was a foreigner, there were diplomatic issues, and that I could be released on bail." He added, "I didn't even know what the charges were, but I had no choice but to admit them because they said I could quickly return to my family."
Son Jun-ho, who wanted to reveal the process of his illegal investigation by releasing the audio file during the public security investigation, emphasized, "I want to proudly prove my innocence, but the public security says there is only video and not a single audio file," and "The only evidence they have is my false confession obtained through the initial pressure investigation."
The Chinese Football Association announced the previous 커뮤니티 day, "According to the facts recognized by the judicial authorities, former Shandong Taishan player Son Jun-ho participated in illicit transactions to secure illicit profits, manipulated soccer matches and obtained illegal profits," and "Son Jun-ho is banned from any activities related to soccer for life."
If the Chinese Football Association notifies the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) of the disciplinary action, and FIFA holds a disciplinary committee to review the action and then reports the disciplinary action to each member country, Son Jun-ho will not be able to play as a soccer player in any country.
Son Jun-ho was detained by the police while attempting to return to China via Shanghai Hongqiao Airport in May of last year, and was later taken into criminal custody and investigated by the Chaoyang Public Security Bureau in Liaoning Province.
The charge against him is 'bribery of a non-state agent', which applies to cases where a person belonging to a company or other unit other than a government agency illegally receives another person's property by taking advantage of his or her job.
Son Jun-ho has strongly denied any involvement in match-fixing or any possibility of bribery during his transfer to Shandong.
Son Jun-ho, who was released in March after being detained for about 10 months, returned to the K League 1 stage in June wearing a Suwon FC uniform and has been playing a key role for the team.
However, national team coach Hong Myung-bo, who excluded Son Jun-ho from the list for the first and second matches of the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, mentioned the possibility of his disciplinary action, saying, "I am continuing to watch, but there was something that was not clear."