Son Woong-Jong, father of Spurs star, Heung-Min Son, has been fined for violating child welfare law in South Korea after an incident occurred at the Son Football Academy.
Tottenham’s captain paid for the facility
The Son Football Academy based in Chuncheon City is funded by Heung-Min Son, with The Athletic reporting that the 32-year-old star headed up what is believed to be £11 million worth of investment into the facility.
However, Son’s father, Son Woong-Jong, is widely recognised as one of the senior coaches at the facility, as well as being the Tottenham captain’s father.
Woong-Jong Son has been reported to be a strict coach with high physical and mental standards, implementing many rules to try and emulate Son’s success. This includes only using your ‘weaker’ foot and not shooting until the age of 15.
Son Woong-Jong has been ordered to pay over £1,600 in fines
As per the Daily Mail, Son Woong-Jong was handed a 3 million Won fine (£1,700) after the Chuncheon District Court ruled that the father of the Premier League forward had violated the child welfare law at the Son Football Academy.
Two other coaches alongside Son Woong-Jong were also fined the same amount for what was also ruled as a child welfare violation.
A parent of a young player at the academy reportedly claimed that their son was hit by one of the two coaches with a corner flag and subjected to verbal abuse.
Son Woong-Jong denied any wrongdoing but did offer an apology and promised to re-evaluate his coaching methods going forward.
Son has accredited much of his success to his dad
Heung-Min Son, who has recently earned his spot in Tottenham’s top five goalscorers of all time, has often stated that his father has been the key to his continued success.
Son stated to TNT Sports back in 2019: “He [my father] was a very tough coach, he still is now.
“But he always said you have to work harder, you have to be a professional, so that’s what he says all the time, but without tough training, I wouldn’t be here so I’m really grateful for these tough messages and tough training sessions”.
“It was hard, four hours juggling the ball [four hours?] yeah, can you imagine fours hours? After two hours, you see the floor like, like a rollercoaster, you see the ball – there is one ball, but you see three balls. Yeah, these were crazy, crazy memories for me.”