The case of national soccer midfielder Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan), who was being investigated under criminal detention (temporary restraint) in China, has been dragging on for more than a month. After the expiration of his criminal detention on July 17, the Chinese public security recently switched to a detention (arrest) investigation.
The only thing we know is that he is being investigated for “soliciting non-state actors,” but we don’t know what exactly is going on with him, which is frustrating. There are only speculations that he may have been involved in match-fixing or that money was exchanged during his transfer to Shandong.
On June 5, national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann announced the 23-man roster for the June A matches (Peru on June 16 and El Salvador on June 20) at the Jongno-gu Football Hall in Seoul, and included Son. The announcement shows the national team’s support for the Qatar World Cup member, who is in a difficult situation.
However, the news of the switch in the criminal investigation broke while the team was convening. The team is in a state of shock. Son Heung-min, the team’s captain and a friend of Son Jun-ho’s, said at a press conference on the 19th, a day before the match against El Salvador, “My heart is broken. “I’m very close to him, and we’ve been working together for a long time, and we’ve been in touch a lot before, but now I can’t get a response to my texts,” he said.
“All we can do now is pray for him and his family,” Klinsmann said, adding that he hopes for a quick outcome. “It’s hard for us to say anything because we don’t know (the situation),” he continued, “but there are efforts being made at the association level, so we will pray and wait. In terms of football, I hope this situation will be finalized quickly.”먹튀검증
Earlier, Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos) also expressed their sincere concern, although they were cautious, saying, “The players haven’t heard anything about the situation.”
