From World Cup to Chinese jail to Korean limbo: The sad tale of Son Jun-ho
Match-fixing claims brings career of South Korean international to juddering halt
During his 319 days in a Chinese jail, Son Jun-ho had plenty of time to reflect upon the fact that he had been playing against Brazil at the 2022 World Cup just five months before he was arrested at a Shanghai Airport. In a Round of 16 match in Qatar, the defensive midfielder came off the bench at half-time with South Korea 4-0 down against the five-time champions. He helped the Taeguk Warriors win the second half to head back to East Asia with pride relatively intact.
It had been a good few years for Son. After leaving Pohang Steelers for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ahead of the 2018 K-League season, he was a major figure as the Greens went on to win the next three titles, so much so that he was named the league’s MVP in 2020. He left for China to join Shandong Taishan for an estimated fee of around $5 million, one of the last Chinese signings of any consequence. “I've accomplished so much with Jeonbuk,"said Son as he left. "I'll never forget the love and support I've had from our fans. And when I do return to the K League, it will be in Jeonbuk green." That did not happen.
Had he broken into the national team before he was in his mid-twenties then this intelligent player would have been in Europe, but as it was, he did more than OK. In Son’s first season in China, he starred as Shandong became champions for the first time since 2010. With the Middle Kingdom country still in the middle of the world’s longest and strictest lockdown, there were no end-of-season awards. Had they taken place, the Korea would have been in the running, impressive given his fairly unglamorous position.
“Son has made a huge difference,” Shandong team-mate Marouane Fellaini said in 2021. “With him, we win more possession, but there is more than that as he gives us intelligent possession. He is at the centre of most of the good things we do, and we are a better team when he is there.”
In 2022, Shandong missed out of a second successive league title –and Son his fifth in a row–just due to goal difference. Then it all came to a shattering end.
In May 2023, was arrested at the airport. Beijing’s foreign ministry said that it had been done “on suspicion of accepting bribes by non-state employees”. It was part of a wider investigation, one of Chinese football’s regular clampdowns on corruption in football.
There wasn’t much more information than that –transparency and communication are not commonly associated with China’s penal system. Korea Football Association (KFA) officials scrambled to find out more but struggled. There was plenty of concern given that Beijing meant business and severe punishments were starting to be handed out to all kinds of football figures (the following year would see former CFA boss Chen Xuyuan jailed for life and former national team coach –and Everton player –Li Tie get a 20-year sentence).
Nobody knew what was going on with Son. New Korea boss Jurgen Klinsmann –who had selected Son in his first two games in charge in March 2023 –selected the player in his squads for World Cup qualifiers in June to keep the spotlight on his plight in the absence of any information. In November, Korea went to China in World Cup qualification and won 3-0.
"Now we have only one wish for Christmas," Klinsmann told reporters after returning to Seoul. “That is to get Son Jun-ho released because until today, they have not proven anything that he did wrong. So we hope that the Chinese government will release him, hopefully before Christmas, to see his family.”
That didn’t happen but then, in March 2024, Son was released, over ten months after he was first detained, though China did not comment on whether he had been found innocent or not. “It seems that his return to Korea was tense,"football commentator Park Moon-sung said. "He said he was already released last week. He could not tell anybody until he took a flight in China and landed in Korea, because he was afraid of being arrested again. When I asked him, he said every process is finished. He said that he never has to go back to China again and go through difficulties, but I think he is traumatized.”
It sounded like a nightmare and there was plenty of sympathy back home. In June, he found a club, joining Suwon FC in the K-League. Yet it was not over. In September, he was one of 43 people that the CFA wanted to receive a life-time ban.
Son held an emotional press conference in Suwon, just south of Seoul. “The Chinese police presented ridiculous charges," he said, adding that he had been forced into a false confession.
“They threatened that if I didn't admit to the charges, my wife would be arrested through the foreign ministry and brought to the same detention centre. I said I hadn't done anything like that. While showing me pictures of my daughter and son on my phone, they pressured me, saying: 'What did the children do to deserve this? If your wife comes here too, how will the kids manage? Don't you think your children want to see their father? So admit it quickly.’”
Public opinion started to change however when Son admitted that he had received around 200,000 Chinese yuan (around $28000) from a teammate at Shandong but said he couldn’t remember what it was for.
Few believed that and sympathy evaporated. Suwon FC terminated his contract, with some fans demanding that the club apologise for signing Son in the first place. In Korea, memories of 2011 when a massive match fixing scandal was uncovered that involved over 100 people are still fresh. At the start of all that, many fans were angry with the media for reporting rumours about the rigging of results but it turned to anger as tearful player after tearful player admitted that, yes, something had happened. This felt similar.
In January, FIFA did not uphold the CFA’s request that Son’s lifetime ban in China be extended to the rest of the world due to a lack of evidence. With just days before the start of the 2025 K-League season, the 32-year-old has no club. He now can now play anywhere he wants–-(except China which will not be a problem) —but the place that he really wants is the one that is the toughest and that is Korea.
John Duerden