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Lastest News Nigeria, Politics, Business, Sport, Interview
Seven weeks prior to the Asian Cup, South Korea announced the suspension of striker Hwang Ui-jo, citing a police investigation into claims he had taken an unauthorized video of his ex-girlfriend.
The Norwich City forward is charged with using his phone to record a sexual encounter with his ex-partner without getting permission. He disputes the charge.
Hwang scored a penalty in South Korea’s two World Cup qualifying matches this month, but the Korea Football Association (KFA) suspended him on Tuesday while they awaited the conclusion of police investigations.
The 31-year-old scored on Tuesday in Norwich’s 3-2 loss to Watford and is still eligible to play for the English second-tier team.
A KFA statement read, “We have decided to exclude Hwang from the national team until a definitive conclusion is drawn.”
The KFA’s ethics committee head, Lee Youn-nam, told reporters that national players need to act “with a high degree of morality and responsibility.”
“It is difficult for the player to carry out normal national team activities considering that he is being investigated as a suspect,” Lee stated.
“We have decided that Hwang Ui-jo should not be selected for the national team because football fans have high expectations for the national team.”
Hwang, who is now on loan from Nottingham Forest to Norwich, has made 62 appearances for South Korea and scored 19 goals.
In a statement released by the Korea Football Association, coach Jurgen Klinsmann said, “I fully understand the current situation and will respect the decision of the Korea Football Association.”
After the authorities had started their investigation and Klinsmann had justified his selection at the time, Hwang was selected for the recent World Cup qualifying matches against Singapore and China.
The German World Cup winner stated, “There is always speculation,” upon his return from Shenzhen, where they defeated China 3-0 last week.
“Until it is proven otherwise, I don’t believe it.”
On January 12, the Asian Cup begins in Qatar. Three days later, South Korea will play their debut match versus Bahrain.
