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Son suffers racial abuse after 1-3 defeat to Man United

Posted April. 13, 2021 07:34,   

Updated April. 13, 2021 07:34

한국어

After all, Son Heung-min, the 29-year-old Korean winger of Tottenham Hotspur, was not free from racial discriminations.

In a home match on Monday, Son scored an opening goal in the 40th minute of the first half against Manchester United. This was Son’s 14th goal this season, his personal record tied with his own performance in 2016-2017 regular season. But his team lost the game 1-3 in the end.

While it was a meaningful achievement, his Instagram postings were covered with harsh comments and in particular racial slurs. In the 33rd minute of the game, Edinson Cavani scored a goal after receiving a pass from Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay. In a VAR review, however, the referee called off the scoring, ruling McTominay hit Son’s face with the right hand while trying to peel him off.

But Manchester fans accused Son of “diving,” an attempt to deceive the referee by feigning injury. The angry mob plastered Son’s Instagram postings with racist comments calling him “DVD seller,” “Soap opera actor” and “dog eater.”

“Another matchday and more abhorrent racial abuse suffered by one of our players. We shall undertake a full review alongside the Premier League to determine the most effective action moving forward. We stand with you, Sonny,” said Hotspurs’ official twitter account.

In fact, the number of cases of racial abuse in the EPL is growing lately. “A growing number of professional footballers in the men's and women's game have been racially abused on social media this season,” said Sky Sports on Monday.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com