SEOUL: South Korean World Cup midfielder Son Jun-ho had his contract with top-tier Suwon FC terminated on Friday by mutual consent, three days after Chinese football banned him for life for alleged match-fixing.

“With the idea that we can no longer leave our fans who have been supporting the players and the team all year in confusion, the club has accepted a request by Son to terminate his contract that he made out of consideration for his teammates and fans,” the club said in a statement.

Son, 32, gave a tearful press conference on Wednesday in which he proclaimed his innocence, having been among 43 people banned this week by the Chinese Football Association.

Son played for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, returned to South Korea in March having spent 10 months in detention in China.

Choi Soon-ho, Suwon’s sporting director, said: “We sincerely apologise to the Suwon FC supporters and all Korean football fans for any concern this situation may have caused.”

According to Yonhap, public sentiment has turned against Son since a press conference that the news agency said “left more questions than answers”. An emotional Son denied wrongdoing and accused Chinese authorities of blackmailing him to force a confession.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024