Son Joon-ho (32, Suwon FC) complained of unfairness. “False confessions made by coercive investigation are the only evidence that Chinese police have,” Son said with tears in his eyes.
Son was convicted in the Chinese trial. Son did not appeal the Chinese court’s ruling.
Son’s alleged bribery led to the fact that he received 200,000 yuan (37.58 million won) from Jin Jing-dao (Kim Kyung-do), his close friend for two and a half years. Son negotiated with the judge on the sentence and agreed to a 10-month prison term. That’s how he returned to Korea.
The Chinese Football Association announced on Sept. 10 special corrective actions in the case of match fixing and illegal gambling in Chinese professional football. The disciplinary action against 61 people, including Son Joon-ho, was included. The Chinese Football Association permanently expelled 43 people, including Son.
The Chinese Football Association said, “According to facts recognized by Chinese law enforcement agencies, Son engaged in unjustified transactions when he played for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League. He manipulated soccer matches and gained illegal profits. Any soccer-related activities of Son will be banned for life.”
The Chinese Football Association also informed the Korea Football Association of this information. The Chinese Football Association also sent the fact to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation.
FIFA holds a disciplinary committee to review the disciplinary actions of the Chinese Football Association. Afterwards, Son Jun-ho’s disciplinary actions are delivered to each member country. If the disciplinary action of the Chinese Football Association is not dismissed, Son will not be able to continue his career in any country.
Son strongly denied his involvement in match fixing. “I have never participated in match fixing,” Son said in an urgent press conference held at the Suwon Sports Center on Sunday.
Son Joon-ho continued, “I was really close to Kim Kyung-do for two and a half years. As we were close, we made money transactions with each other. We used to lend money whenever we needed money. It was a money transaction between friends. It was never related to match fixing. It was not illegal, either. It was really a money transaction between friends. I said many times, ‘I didn’t receive it because I knew it was illegal money. I didn’t fix the match.’
However, Son was unable to provide evidence to back up his claim.
He claimed that the records of WeChat, an application in China where the money transaction took place, were “completely erased.” He admitted that he received 200,000 yuan from Kim Kyung-do, but said he did not remember exactly why he received the money.
Son Joon-ho did not even own the Chinese court ruling. He did not even know the contents of the ruling.
The ruling would have indicated Son Joon-ho’s statement during the Chinese trial, detailed crimes on the alleged bribery, and whether the match was actually illegal in the match-fixing target game if the match was rigged in return for money and valuables.
“I wanted to go back to Korea as soon as possible,” Son said. “As soon as I stepped on Korean soil, I wanted to forget about the days of China. I forgot to check the things that I needed to check. I decided to forget everything that happened in China with my family. I just thought about living a new life.”
Son Joon-ho replied, “Yes,” when asked if FIFA would not take the hand of the Chinese Football Association, if he could play in Korea, would he be willing to live with what had not happened in China.
Kim Sun-woong, a lawyer at the law firm, asked for his opinion.
Kim was a former member of the 29th Judicial Research and Training Institute. Starting as a lawyer at the Financial Supervisory Service in 2000, Kim served as a lawyer and director of Good Corporate Governance Research Institute and general secretary of the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association. Not only is Kim an experienced lawyer, but he is also well versed in sports.
Lawyer Kim said, “Considering Son Joon-ho’s claims, it seems that frequent money transactions with Kim Kyung-do could have been a swap,” adding, “We asked a close player to exchange money when we needed Chinese money, rather than exchanging money in banks in consideration of China’s exchange rate.”
“When a player changes a large amount of money, he or she has to go through a complicated process such as having to report a foreign exchange transaction. Players who play overseas often receive local money from close acquaintances rather than banks. What is clear is that Son Joon-ho needs to clarify why he or she received the money. I’m not talking about what happened 10 years ago. Nearly 40 million won is not a small amount of money. However, if you say that you have no hard evidence or can’t remember anything, your claim will become less reliable,” he said.
Kim Sun-woong, a lawyer at the law firm, asked for his opinion.
Kim was a former member of the 29th Judicial Research and Training Institute. Starting as a lawyer at the Financial Supervisory Service in 2000, Kim served as a lawyer and director of Good Corporate Governance Research Institute and general secretary of the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association. Not only is Kim an experienced lawyer, but he is also well versed in sports.
Lawyer Kim said, “Considering Son Joon-ho’s claims, it seems that frequent money transactions with Kim Kyung-do could have been a swap,” adding, “We asked a close player to exchange money when we needed Chinese money, rather than exchanging money in banks in consideration of China’s exchange rate.”
“When a player changes a large amount of money, he or she has to go through a complicated process such as having to report a foreign exchange transaction. Players who play overseas often receive local money from close acquaintances rather than banks. What is clear is that Son Joon-ho needs to clarify why he or she received the money. I’m not talking about what happened 10 years ago. Nearly 40 million won is not a small amount of money. However, if you say that you have no hard evidence or can’t remember anything, your claim will become less reliable,” he said.
However, lawyer Kim said, “As Sohn Jun-ho said, I may have been out of my mind due to fear. That’s why I couldn’t take care of various materials including the verdict. Recently, a player was robbed of a total of 80 million won, 500,000 won each. When faced with unexpected situations, behavior that is beyond the norm can happen,” he said.
Regarding the sentence transaction, lawyer Kim also pointed out, “It can happen enough.” Attorney Kim explained the reason as follows.
“If China wanted to reveal the truth, we never knew when we would be able to come back to Korea. There is a ‘pli-bargaining’ system. Under the condition that the suspect admits charges, prosecutors charge him/her with minor crimes or lower his/her sentence.”
Attorney Kim also gave the lawyer’s interpretation of acts such as Son Joon-ho not appealing and not considering a retrial.
“In order for Son to reveal the truth, he should have appealed, but in that case, he has to stay in China or go back. Attendance of the accused is mandatory in criminal trials. It is understandable why Son is reluctant to appeal unless he continues his career in China. However, in order to reveal the truth, he has to prove it. For now, the only way to reveal the truth is through a retrial.”
“There was absolutely no match fixing,” Son said. “He only admitted to receiving money and valuables.” How does Kim view the allegation.
Lawyer Kim said, “In Korea, match fixing is condemned in accordance with the punishment regulations under the National Sports Promotion Act.”
As lawyer Kim said, Article 48 No. 6 of the National Sports Promotion Act stipulates that “a person who uses deception or power to obstruct the fair implementation of sports events subject to the issuance of sports promotion voting rights can be sentenced to up to five years in prison or fined up to 50 million won.” 먹튀검증
Lawyer Kim said, “I don’t know exactly if there are such regulations in China,” but added, “It is certain that it is a breach of trust that he admitted to the charge of receiving money and goods.”
“To put it simply, this is what it looks like. Don’t you get paid by a club? When you get paid, you always have to do your best for your team. However, you got paid from other places and didn’t do your best. This is not just a match-fixing like Korea, but a gift of breach of trust is effectively a match-fixing. Being convicted in China means that a match-fixing was recognized in the end.”
Lawyer Kim once again said, “The Chinese court seems to have seen Kim Kyung-do’s testimony and 200,000 yuan he received from him as decisive evidence. Son Jun-ho’s claim is true and to clear his unfairness, he must prove why he received 200,000 yuan and that the money was not used for match fixing.”
MK Sports also listened to the opinions of agents with experience in China.
The previous agent said, “The most suspicious of the remarks made at the press conference was ‘It could be because it is China,'” and expressed the following thoughts.
“Son Jun-ho was not the only player who played in the Super League. Several national team players have played in China. There are still Korean players and leaders who play in China. At one point, the Super League used to bring together world-class players. The level of foreign players is still quite high. However, if he was going to claim that it is possible because it is China, he should have presented a reasonable ground.
Regarding the key issue of 200,000 yuan, he failed to come up with any data to prove the details of the transaction. All he said was that he did not even remember and seemed to be appealing to his emotions. Son must prove his innocence. “I never thought that Son would hold a press conference without any data. To gain strength in Son’s argument, we need clear evidence to refute the decision of the Chinese Football Association.”
The key is 200,000 yuan that he received from Kim. Only when he clearly proves why Son received 200,000 yuan, he can get rid of the unfairness he claims.
As Son Jun-ho claims, he must also seek a retrial in order to resolve his unfairness.
According to Son Joon-ho’s argument, China illegally detained a Korean national team player. It even conducted a coercive investigation. It is a matter that the Korean government, not the Korea Football Association, should come forward and approach the truth.
It will take a very long time, but if you want to approach the truth and restore your honor, you need to know clearly what situation you are in now. Although it may be a matter of bringing up painful memories, you can get out of the unfairness only when you are willing to retrial. Otherwise, there is no way for Son Joon-ho to overturn the Chinese court ruling.
Son Joon-ho is considering filing a complaint with the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“The decision of the Chinese Football Association to permanently expel the country is based on the judgment of the Chinese court,” a sports official said. “It is not clear whether CAS will be able to handle this issue because it is related to the criminal case of Chinese law enforcement authorities.” “CAS usually covers disputes on judgment, drug doping, and athlete qualification. Even if CAS files a complaint with CAS, CAS may not be able to deal with this issue.”