International Football
South Korea footballer Hwang Ui-jo faces four years in jail for sex video
South Korea footballer Hwang Ui-jo faces four years in jail after pleading guilty in court to illegally filming sexual encounters.
The former Nottingham Forest striker asked the judge to show leniency after being charged with recording himself having sex with women without their consent, a trial transcript seen by AFP said on Oct 17.
Prosecutors asked the Seoul Central District Court for a four-year jail term for the 32-year-old when they made their closing arguments in the case this week.
Hwang, who now plays for Turkish club Alanyaspor, had initially claimed he was innocent before admitting to the offences in court.
“Though he now acknowledges the wrongdoing, he had denied the allegations leading up to the trial. We question whether Hwang is sincere in his reflections… for the irreparable damage inflicted upon the victims,” prosecutors said.
Hwang said in a prepared statement to the judge: “I offer my sincerest apologies to the victims who have suffered because of my wrongdoings. I sincerely plead for the utmost leniency.”
He said he would use the incident as a “mirror of reflection” to live diligently as an athlete.
Known as “molka” in Korean, spycam videos are typically made by men who secretly film women in toilets and elsewhere, although the term can also be applied to clandestine footage of consensual sex.
The scandal came to light when his sister-in-law posted private explicit videos of Hwang in an attempt to blackmail him in June 2023. She is now serving three years in prison for blackmail.
One of the victim’s attorneys, Lee Eun-eui, welcomed the prosecutors’ demand for a four-year prison sentence.
“It is at least comforting that the prosecution is seeking a four-year imprisonment,” she told reporters after the trial, noting her client had been “deeply battered” through the entire affair.
Hwang, who has scored 19 goals in 62 appearances for South Korea, has been suspended from the national team since November 2023 when the allegations were made. He is due to be sentenced on Dec 18.
Over in Spain, Real Madrid have, for the moment at least, given their support to star forward Kylian Mbappe since the Swedish media reported that he is being investigated for alleged rape during a visit to Stockholm.
The reigning European champions, who have not commented publicly on the reports, do not appear to be overly concerned over the reports about the player who joined in summer from Paris Saint-Germain.
An internal club source, who spoke to AFP on condition of their identity not being revealed, described the accusations as “the biggest fake in the history of sport”.
On Oct 15, Real were accused of deleting Mbappe from photos they published in a promotional campaign with their jersey manufacturer Adidas.
Real told journalists the reason was simply because Mbappe’s boot sponsor is Adidas’ bitter rivals Nike.
That explanation was questioned on social media though, with many people pointing out that several players in the photos are also under contract with Nike, like Mbappe’s French international teammate Eduardo Camavinga.
In the midst of the media storm – and on the day his lawyer spoke to AFP and other French media to insist her client was “shocked” to be linked to a rape investigation – Mbappe trained with his teammates in Madrid on Oct 15.
This time, the club had no hesitation in posting photos and videos of the Frenchman.
The 25-year-old Frenchman should be available for selection for their La Liga match against hosts Celta Vigo on Oct 19, as he is said to have recovered from discomfort in his left thigh that kept him out of France’s squad for Nations League games.
With a rare few free days on his hands, Mbappe chose to go to Stockholm with a group of friends, arriving on Oct 9 and departing on Oct 11. Reports in several Swedish media say they visited a restaurant and a nightclub. Once the group had left Sweden, a woman went to police to allege she was the victim of rape.
On Oct 14, after Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet became the first media outlet to reveal that a rape probe had been opened, Mbappe slammed the report as “fake news” on his social media and alleged there was a link between the accusations and his financial dispute with his former club PSG. A hearing into the case was held on Oct 15.
“It’s becoming so predictable, the day before the hearing as if by chance,” Mbappe said on X, formerly Twitter.
A Swedish prosecutor has only confirmed that an investigation has been opened, without naming Mbappe.
His lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard told AFP on Tuesday the 2018 World Cup winner was “at ease” because “he has done nothing wrong”.
She said Mbappe had “asked my office not to leave things as they are because it is impossible to allow yourself to be slandered and defamed in this way”.
“This is why we are going to file a complaint for libel.”
-AFP
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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