South Korea replace fake gold medals for 1960 Asian Cup winners
- Published
Son Heung-min has joined up with South Korea and will be missing for Tottenham during his country's Asian Cup campaign
South Korea's Football Association has given gold medals to the children of four dead players who received fakes after their 1960 Asian Cup win.
The country has not won the Asian Cup since that success, and media reports and some fans, external blame their failure to do so on the "curse" of the fakes.
"They were coated with cheap gold, which peeled off easily," said Park Kyung-hwa, who played in the 1960 team.
In 2014, the KFA started issuing replacement pure gold medals.
They gave out six to former players or their families prior to the 2015 Asian Cup. However, South Korea lost in the final of that tournament after being beaten 2-1 by Australia.
The KFA handed out four more prior to the start of the 2019 Asian Cup, but an official has denied the latest awards were made to help improve the prospects of the team at the current tournament.
"It happened a long time ago so it's quite a challenge to locate the family members of the players," he said, with eight members of the 1960 squad yet to receive their gold medals.
Kim Hwa-soon, daughter of defender Kim Hong-bok was one of those to be given a gold medal.
"Although he [my father] didn't speak about it [the fake medals], I'm sure he felt sad at the time," she said.
"I really hope the players can win this year's Asian Cup - I'm sure my father wants to see it too."
South Korea will have the services of Tottenham forward Son Heung-min for the rest of the tournament after he joined up with the squad following his club's defeat by Manchester United on Sunday.
He is set to play against China on Wednesday as the two countries compete for top spot in their group to avoid a potentially more difficult route to the final in Qatar.