Lee Kang-in vs. Son Heung-min — what actually happened?

Son Heung-min, left, and Lee Kang-in [NEWS1]

Reports of an Asian Cup altercation between Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in have dominated headlines in Korea for the last week, overshadowing even the ousting of unpopular former national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann. But beyond the noise and the rumors, what are the actual facts?

According to widespread reports, Son and Lee were involved in an altercation when the captain took umbrage at a group of younger players’ decision to leave dinner early and play table tennis.

Older players, including Son, reportedly found this behavior either offensive, a break from tradition, or damaging to morale — depending on which reports you read — and Son confronted the younger players. A scuffle of some sort ensued, Lee took a swing at Son, and Son’s finger was dislocated in the process.

This is the broadly accepted version of events, and the backlash against Lee has been quick. Alongside widespread criticism and some very unpleasant social media comments, the young Paris Saint-Germain player is potentially facing a loss of million in advertising revenue and even calls for him to be excluded from the national squad.

But the problem is, nobody who was in that room in Qatar has gone on the record to verify this story.

The only people that have publicly spoken out so far are Lee himself, who apologized for having an argument with senior players and said, through legal representatives, that there was no physical fight, and Klinsmann, who reportedly blamed friction in the team for the Asian Cup exit while attending a meeting to decide his future with the team. The KFA confirmed there was a disagreement and that it involved table tennis, but made no mention of Lee or a physical fight.

Son, meanwhile, has said nothing.

With blood in the water, the sharks are already circling. That Lee took a swing at Son is quickly being accepted as fact, and there are both reporters and loud voices from the less-savory end of Korean football fandom already out seeking vigilante sporting justice.

But the facts simply are not there yet. Below is a confirmed timeline of everything that happened and a breakdown of which facts are verified and which are just reports.

Timeline

Feb. 5 – An altercation between Son Heung-min and at least one other player takes place during dinner at the Team Korea camp in Qatar

Feb. 6 – Korea loses 2-0 to Jordan in the semifinals of the Asian Cup

Feb. 13 – A Korean non-profit reports KFA Chairman Chung Mong-gyu to police, accusing him of abuse of power in hiring Jurgen Klinsmann

Feb. 13 – British newspaper The Sun reports that Son hurt his finger in a fight with another player the night before the semifinal against Jordan

Feb. 14 – The KFA confirms that an altercation took place when some “young players went up to play table tennis” and that Son’s finger was injured during the dispute

Feb. 14 – Korean media start reporting that the altercation happened with Lee Kang-in

Feb. 14 – Korean media report that Son grabbed Lee by collar and Lee swung at him

Feb. 14 – Korean media report that some senior players asked Klinsmann to exclude Lee from the semifinal squad

Feb. 14 – Lee apologizes for his part in an argument with senior players

Feb. 15 – Lee’s legal representatives deny reports that there was a physical fight

Feb. 15 – The KFA National Team Committee recommends that Klinsmann is fired as manager | KFA Technical Director Hwangbo Kwan says that in the meeting, Klinsmann claimed that discord within the team affected Korea’s performance

Feb. 16 – Klinsmann is fired as national team manager | Chung refuses to step down

Feb. 16 – Some KT branches remove images of Lee from their stores

Feb. 17 – Coupang Play appears to change teasers for PSG’s Ligue 1 game against Nantes to shift focus from Lee

Feb. 19 - Alachi Chicken reportedly decides not to renew an advertising contract with Lee that expires this month

Facts

An altercation of some sort took place at the Korea camp the night before the semifinal vs. Jordan (confirmed by Lee Kang-in and the KFA)

At some point between Korea’s quarterfinal against Australia and semifinal against Jordan, Son’s finger was injured (visual confirmation)

Lee Kang-in apologizes for his part in a dispute with a senior player. He does not mention Son or imply it was physical (posted on Instagram)

Lee Kang-in’s legal representatives denied reports saying there was a physical altercation (official statement)

Klinsmann was fired as national team manager (public announcement)

Reported but not confirmed

The Sun reports that Son’s finger was injured during a “bust-up” with another player (confidential source; partially verified by the KFA statement)

Korean media report that the fight was with Lee, that Son grabbed Lee by the collar and that Lee swung at him. Son’s finger was then dislocated as the two were pulled apart (confidential source)

Korean media report that some senior players — Son is not specifically named — asked Klinsmann to exclude Lee from the squad (confidential source)

Hwangbo Kwan says that Klinsmann blamed discord for the loss to Jordan (second-hand source from closed door meeting)

The loss of advertising and sponsorship deals has been widely reported but is largely unverified:

Some KT stores did take Lee’s poster down a day before the promotion was due to end, but KT says that was not at the company’s request.

Alachi Chicken’s decision not to renew Lee’s contract has not been confirmed in an official statement.

Reports of an image change on Coupang Play come from an online forum. As of press time Tuesday, Coupang Play are not currently promoting a Ligue 1 fixture.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]