Tottenham star Son Heung-min’s father fined £1,683 for violating child welfare law at his South Korean football training centre after being accused of ‘beating a student with a corner flag for losing a race’

Son Heung-min’s father, Son Woong-jung, has been fined 3 million won (£1,683) for violating the child welfare law.

The punishment was imposed by a court in South Korea, where Son Woong-jung heads the Son Football Academy.

Two other members of the academy’s coaching staff were also fined 3 million won for the same violation.

In June, Ny Breaking reported that Son Woong-jung was accused of hitting a young student with a corner flag for “coming last in a race.”

The 62-year-old acknowledged that the incident had occurred and apologized. But he denied that his treatment of players amounted to physical abuse.

Son Woong-jung is the father of Spurs and South Korean captain Son Heung-min (photo)

“This incident was not corporal punishment, but a mutually agreed event as part of fitness training,” he said in a statement. The player came last in a race and was apparently meant to be hit ‘once’ on his thigh.

The player’s parents reported the coach to the police in March after training camp, claiming that Son Woong-jung hit their son on the thigh with the flag on March 9 during a training camp in Okinawa, Japan.

The parents also claimed that their child suffered an injured thigh as a result and required treatment for two weeks.

“When I think about how scared my son must have been, I get angry,” the student’s father said, via the Seoul-based news agency Yonhap.

‘I decided to report it to the police because I didn’t want to experience another case like this.’

Police referred the case to prosecutors in April, after which Son Woong-jung released a statement on the incident after trying to settle the matter with the player’s parents.

Son Heung-min, photo (right) next to his father Son Woong-jung (left) during a photo shoot

Son Woong-jung (left) and Son Heung-min (right) pictured at Gimpo Int’l Airport in 2020

“We are currently awaiting a fair legal judgment based on facts,” Son Woong-jung said in a statement, before admitting his coaching methods had failed to maintain standards regarding player welfare.

“I will reflect on myself in penance for having stuck to my method while failing to catch up with the limits set by the change of times and laws,” he said.

He added that some of the facts told by those who gave evidence were ‘not true’.

“I swear that coaches at my academy have never done anything that wasn’t based on love for our young players.

“Much of what the accuser has said is untrue, and we at the academy are cooperating fully with authorities throughout this investigation, without distorting or obscuring the facts.”

Son Woong-jung is a well-known figure in South Korea and has played professional football for teams such as Sangmu FC, Hyundai Horang-i and Ilhwa Chunma as a striker. He was also selected to represent South Korea’s B team in 1987.

He is largely credited with helping raise and coach generational talent Son Heung-min, who has established himself as a global star.

Son Heung-min (photo) was coached by his father, a former professional footballer

Son Woong-jung pictured (top left) supervising a training session in Chuncheon in July 2018

Son Heung-min, 32, is currently captain of both South Korea and Tottenham Hotspur.

He scored 164 goals in 415 appearances for Spurs and became the first Asian player to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot when he scored 23 times in the 2021/2022 season.

The Son Football Academy, which is located about 50 miles northeast of Seoul, cost just under £11 million to build.