Former Bordeaux striker Hwang Ui-Jo (31) was dismissed from the South Korean team after the opening of a police investigation for illegally recording a sex tape with one of his partners.
Executive of the South Korean selection, Hwang Ui-Jo is going through a complicated moment to say the least. The former Bordeaux player, who is playing at Norwich this season, on loan from Nottingham Forest, was in fact excluded from the South Korean selection due to an illegal sex tape.
The affair began last June when one of his former partners claimed on Instagram that the Taeguk Warriors attacker had filmed their antics without her consent, triggering the opening of a police investigation. And if Hwang Ui-Jo had vigorously contested these accusations, filing a complaint for blackmail and defamation while his lawyer explained that his client had his phone stolen while he was playing at Olympiakos, the police decided to seize the file and questioned the attacker at the end of November.
A hard blow for Jürgen Klinsmann
And faced with the proportions taken by this affair, the South Korean federation decided to strike hard. “We have decided not to select Hwang Ui-jo for the national team until a clear conclusion is reached on the facts”she announced, Lee Youn-nam, head of the ethics committee specifying: “Considering the fact that the player is being investigated as a suspect, it is difficult for him to carry out normal national team activities. Football fans have high expectations of the national team, which is why we considered it inappropriate to select Hwang Ui-jo for the national team.”
A strong position to which Jürgen Klinsmann, the South Korean coach, subscribes. “I fully understand the current situation and will respect the decision of the Korean Football Federation”he confided one month before the Asian Cup of Nations.
