“As the center of the dispute, I first apologized but content that was different from the facts was expanded and reproduced.”
Lee Kang-in training
Lee Kang-in is training to strengthen his agility at the Al Egla Training Center in Doha, Qatar, on the 5th (local time), a day before the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup semifinal match between Korea and Jordan. .
Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who is at the center of the internal strife within the Korean national soccer team, refuted the claim that he punched captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham) in the face, saying it is not true.
Lee Kang-in's representative issued a statement on the 15th, saying, "Contents that are different from the facts in media reports are being expanded and reproduced as if they were facts," and added, "We want to correct the content that is not true."
The representative claimed, “The story that Lee Kang-in punched Son Heung-min in the face when Son Heung-min grabbed Lee Kang-in’s neck is not true.”
He also emphasized that when Lee Kang-in played table tennis, even senior players enjoyed it, and that he had always played table tennis before.
The representative said, "Lee Kang-in deeply regrets his mistakes and is reflecting on them. Since he was at the center of the dispute, I thought it was right to apologize rather than tell the specific circumstances," while complaining about Lee Kang-in's unfairness.
Asian Cup left with scars
The previous day, it was reported through a report in British popular newspaper The Sun that a physical conflict occurred between players on the Korean national soccer team during dinner the day before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup semifinal match against Jordan.
According to a comprehensive report by Yonhap News, Lee Kang-in, Seol Young-woo (Ulsan), and Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart) played table tennis noisily after finishing dinner early and were stopped by captain Son Heung-min.
In the process, Son Heung-min grabbed Lee Kang-in by the collar, and Lee Kang-in responded with a punch, and while other players were trying to separate the two players, Son Heung-min's finger was dislocated.
It is known that after the incident, senior players visited coach Jurgen Klinsmann and asked him to exclude Lee Kang-in from the match against Jordan, but coach Klinsmann allowed Lee Kang-in to play as usual.
When the infighting incident became known, Lee Kang-in posted on his social media, "I have caused great disappointment to the soccer fans who always support our national team. I am truly sorry. I should have taken the lead and followed my brothers' words. He posted an apology saying, "I'm just sorry for showing a bad image to soccer fans." 섯다