The judgment document from the Chinese court regarding Son Jun-ho (33, Chungnam Asan FC) for match-fixing has been made public.
On the 22nd (Korean time), China's Zhibo.com reported that the judgment document related to Son Jun-ho and Jin Jingdao's match-fixing was released online.
Zhibo.com explained the background of the match-fixing incident that the Chinese police considered problematic through the judgment document.
In May 2023, Son Jun-ho was arrested while trying to return to Korea through Shanghai Hongqiao Airport in China. Subsequently, the Chinese police detained him for 37 days in what is known as 'temporary detention' and formally arrested him on June 18 of that year. At that time, Son Jun-ho was charged with 'bribery by non-state workers,' a charge known to apply when someone uses their position in a non-governmental organization to receive money or valuables.
Shandong Taishan, to which Son Jun-ho belonged, was embroiled in the match-fixing scandal, leading to the detention of key players and the coach. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) reportedly imposed sanctions based on the fact that one of the detained players had transferred about 200,000 yuan (39.5 million won) to Son Jun-ho.
Son Jun-ho, who denied all charges, was released in March of last year. He then returned to the domestic stage by signing with Suwon FC in June.
However, just three months after his return, in September of last year, the CFA issued a permanent ban against Son Jun-ho for match-fixing allegations, reigniting the issue. The CFA punished a total of 61 individuals related to match-fixing, of which 43, including Son Jun-ho, were deemed to pose serious risks and received the severe penalty of 'lifetime ban from football-related activities.'
Son Jun-ho held a press conference, claiming that the transfer was unrelated to match-fixing, but the CFA reported Son Jun-ho's permanent ban to FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), requesting that the disciplinary action be expanded globally. However, FIFA dismissed this request and informed the Korea Football Association (KFA) of this on the 24th.
A KFA official explained, 'Since the request for the international expansion of the disciplinary action has been rejected, this disciplinary action is currently only effective within China. As a result, Son Jun-ho is now eligible to register in overseas leagues, excluding the Chinese league, as well as with domestic K League teams.' This opened up the path for his return to the domestic stage.
Son Jun-ho subsequently joined K League 2's Chungnam Asan FC. Regarding the ruling from China, his side stated, 'To secure a quick release, we acknowledged the allegation of receiving money, but we did not engage in match-fixing.' However, the recently released content of the judgment was somewhat different.
Recently, Zhibo.com circulated the judgment document regarding the match-fixing scandal that shook China. In this document, Son Jun-ho directly admitted to the allegations of betting and match-fixing with Jin Jingdao. He also disclosed details about the matches he fixed in his confession.
The judgment document states, 'On December 26, 2021, in the match between Shandong Taishan and Hebei FC, with a significant amount of money at stake, Son Jun-ho participated under Jin Jingdao's lead, including with the spread of the betting odds. Jin Jingdao called Son Jun-ho to his room, suggesting, 'While we will win, let's not score too many goals and play slowly to ensure victory.' Then, Jin Jingdao and Son Jun-ho each bet 500,000 yuan.'
In that match, the first half proceeded normally, resulting in Shandong leading 2-0 at the end of the half. The judgment document explains, 'At halftime, Jin Jingdao and Son Jun-ho deliberately discussed wasting time in Korean. In fact, Son Jun-ho controlled the match so that it ended 2-0.'
After the match, Jin Jingdao transferred that money to his younger sister in Korea, and the sister then passed the money to Son Jun-ho's agent. Son Jun-ho received 400,000 yuan (8 million won) from the agent when he returned to Korea in January 2022. This was the match-fixing fee that Jin Jingdao allocated to Son Jun-ho.
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