By CNN
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South Korean soccer star Son Jun-ho, who was detained in China for allegedly accepting bribes, has recently returned home, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday.
The ministry has been communicating with the Chinese authorities through “various channels” and requested cooperation to “ensure a swift and fair process,” it said without giving details of the release.
Son was detained by public security authorities in China’s northeast Liaoning province last May “on suspicion of taking bribes as a person who is not a functionary of a state organ.”
Son is a midfielder for Shandong Taishan, a soccer club in the Chinese Super League (CSL) which won the 2021 league title and more recently the 2022 Chinese Football Association Cup.
He has also represented South Korea’s men’s national team and reached the knockout stages of the World Cup in 2022 with the squad.
Son became the first foreign soccer player to be investigated and detained since the CSL started in 2004, according to China’s state-run Global Times.
His arrest was part of a broader initiative by Beijing to rid Chinese soccer of alleged corruption in the highest levels of the sport, during which the Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog has been investigating a host of Chinese Football Association figures.
CNN’s Tara Subramaniam and Andrew McNicol contributed to reporting.
