Freed South Korean Footballer Son Jun-ho To Sign With Premier Team

South Korean international footballer Son Jun-ho, who was detained in China for 10 months over a bribery case, is set to sign for Suwon FC, the top-tier K League club said Friday.

Son returned home in March, having been detained in May last year “on suspicion of accepting bribes by non-state employees.”

He was playing for Chinese side Shandong Taishan at the time.

The midfielder has made 20 appearances for South Korea, three of them at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

“We are in the final stage to get Son’s contract reviewed and approved,” a Suwon FC spokesperson told AFP.

“An official announcement is to be made soon.”

Suwon are fifth in the K League and led by Choi Soon-ho, who previously managed the 32-year-old Son during his time at Pohang Steelers.

The Chinese authorities provided no further details regarding the circumstances of Son’s case, but its domestic football is in the grip of a major anti-corruption campaign.

After his return from China, Son joined an amateur fifth-tier club to regain fitness.

“I sincerely thank all the citizens of South Korea who have not forgotten about me over a long time, have taken an interest, waited and worried for me,” he wrote on Instagram in March.

In recent years, Chinese football has been affected by a significant anti-corruption campaign.

This crackdown saw the former chairman of the Chinese Football Association, Xuyuan Chen, sentenced to life in prison in March for accepting bribes worth $11 million.

AFP