Son's father says he will change his practices after being accused of bullying

Son Heung-min's high reputation in the football world, both in Europe and Asia, has recently been damaged by his father's behaviour at the international player's academy in South Korea. A few days ago it emerged that Son Woong-jung, the Tottenham player's father, had been accused of alleged physical and psychological abuse of the youngsters being trained at the family's school in Chuncheon.

Woong-jung has now explained that he will try to change his working methods in the future to prevent such occurrences from happening. "The SON Football Academy in general and myself in particular have apologised to the victims and have worked to resolve this matter amicably," explained Son Heung-min's father in a statement reported by The Guardian.

"However, we are waiting for the legal resolution of this situation, as many of the facts I am accused of differ from what happened. I can confirm in my defence that none of the actions or words of my coaches were based on anything other than love for our students," Woong-jung added.

"I know that my methods are perhaps a bit old-fashioned and have not adapted to the new times and I will try to find other practices to help the young players to concentrate and put the focus on working," he said.

Although corporal punishment may seem like a taboo from another century, it has been around in South Korea until relatively recently, with Seoul only banning it in schools in 2010 and a similar restriction in the private sphere 11 years later. Today, parents no longer tolerate their children being violently punished by teachers or coaches in schools or academies.

As for Son's father, he has always had a reputation for being tough on the player. The Spurs man himself admitted in an interview that, when he was young, he would plan long four-hour sessions of touches without the ball dropping to improve his technique. Woong-jung tried to impose a similar work mechanic at the family academy and the result was not only not optimal, but ended up with him being sued.