- Sputnik International
Asia
Find top stories and features from Asia and the Pacific region. Keep updated on major political stories and analyses from Asia and the Pacific. All you want to know about China, Japan, North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Own Goal? North Korea Bans Soccer Starlet Han Kwang-Song From Italian TV Show

CC0 / / Football
Football - Sputnik International
Subscribe
His explosive footballing exploits have earned him rave reviews across Italy and elsewhere in Europe - but Han Kwang-song has been banned from talking about them on television by his native homeland North Korea.

Italian television has been anxious to learn more about soccer star Han Kwang-song over his amazing displays since arriving in the country — only to be shown the red card by government leaders from his homeland North Korea.

The teenage soccer sensation has scored five goals in six Serie B league games this season and had been lined up to appear on RAI's "La Domenica Sportiva" program — only to lock himself in his hotel bedroom after receiving a telephone call from a government official in the North Korea's capital Pyongyang.

Han who made history by becoming the first North Korean to score in Italy's top-flight league, Serie A, earlier this year, had traveled to Milan where the program is recorded on Sunday, September 24, when he received the call.

Massimiliano Santopadre, president of Perugia football club in Umbria, has now revealed the circumstances surrounding the 19-year-old's non-appearance.

"A call from a not very clear ministry figure arrived and it blocked everything," he said, after appearing on the show with an empty seat next to him.

"Negotiating, like on the transfer market, was impossible, also because Pyongyang want to talk only and exclusively with Han. The situation with their government has become even more rigid and their footballers have been prohibited from appearing on television, otherwise they would have repatriated him. Han is scared," the soccer boss added.

Santopadre told viewers that the player was "locked in his room — he's only 19 and didn't feel up to appearing [on TV]" without revealing the real reason for his absence until a few days later.

Ironically, the club had organized everything in advance to try and avoid any surprises, including traveling to Milan by car instead of plane or rail.

Han, as everybody calls him, had even preemptively read the questions that he was going to be asked in front of the television cameras — his move to Italy, playing for Perugia and Cagliari in Sardinia before that.

There was nothing compromising about politics or his life in the North Korean capital city before moving to Europe. Indeed, his leader Kim Jong-un appeared on television around the same time, announcing, "We will kill American fighters."

The teenager has enjoyed a meteoric rise in football, having helped his country win the Under 16 Asia Championship before appearing at the Under 17 World Cup where his goal-scoring skills quickly caught the eye of European soccer scouts.

He was invited by Cagliari in Sardinia where he impressed during his trial period and signed for their youth side only to be quickly promoted to the top team. 

Despite playing against some of the world's leading soccer superstars, Han managed to score in his debut match. He has since moved to Perugia where his scoring feats have not gone unnoticed by many of Europe's elite clubs, with many predicting a big-money transfer may be in the offing.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала