A South Korean court ordered the father of Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min to pay a fine of about $2,220, due to mistreatment of children at his academy, according to reports.
Son Woong-jung is a former footballer who wrote a best-selling memoir detailing how he helped his son become one of the best players in the world.
But this year, the family of one of the students at his academy filed a complaint due to mistreatment, and he was beaten by Son Heung-yeon, the brother of the Tottenham player, which left a large bruise on his left thigh.
According to the family, the student and his classmates faced verbal abuse from Son, the father.
The court ordered Son Woong-jung, Son Heung-yeon and a third person to pay a fine of 3 million won for violating the child welfare law, according to Yonhap News Agency and other South Korean media.
The trio – who can appeal their sentence within a week – were also required to complete 40 hours of educational sessions on child abuse.
The Chuncheon Court's decision came on Friday after the Public Prosecution filed charges against the three people in August and requested a fine be imposed on them. Son's father acknowledged that the incident had occurred, but denied that it was a physical assault.
He said – in a statement – that “this incident was not physical punishment, but rather a mutually agreed-upon act as part of physical training.” He added that the player came in last place in a race and was supposed to be “hit once” on the thigh.
Son (62 years old) admitted that his training methods did not live up to the new standards for players’ rights, explaining, “I will do some soul-searching to compensate for my insistence on my style.”