[기동취재] A soccer prospect who was deceived by “Let’s go to Europe” saying “let’s go to Europe”.jpg

“I will send it to Croatia”

Former professional soccer player Do Hwa-seong, 41, used the same technique every time. We selected high school players in a desperate period ahead of college. I made an attractive proposal to them:’Croatia Pro Team’. I asked my parents for money of tens of millions of won, but there was no contract signed after receiving the money. It was a scam.

◆From a soccer prospect to a middle school graduate
Do Hwa-seong, who was permanently expelled from the K-League on suspicion of a match-manipulation in 2011, remained in the football world after that and worked as a’European agent. It was a’freelance status’, not an official agent. Only three victims were confirmed by JTBC until a sentence of 1 year and June in prison by the Incheon District Court on charges of fraud on the 4th of last month. Some of these players gave up high school and went to Croatia, and then became a full-time junior high school graduate. Some players quit playing football after giving up college where they passed, and then play for an independent club. The reason why they responded to JTBC’s coverage with courage in the narrow Korean soccer world was “because of the hope that there will be no victims like us again.”

The victim who suffered the most damage to Mr. Do was Jo Sung-hyup (21), former athlete. Former football prospect Joe dropped out of high school in 2017 and went to Croatia. After being scammed, I became a middle school graduate, and after giving up soccer, I earned money as a daily job. Currently, I am working at a factory in Incheon and are preparing to support defense companies. Even if I wanted to go to the military, according to the regulations at the time, I couldn’t go because of my education.

The accusation of Mr. Cho was decisive for Mr. Do’s arrest. According to the decision of the Incheon District Court on the 4th, Mr. Do received a total of 79 million won from the Cho family, saying, “I will join the Croatian and Serbian clubs.” Mr. Do’s reimbursement so far is 1.9 million won. Mr. Cho said, “If you add the cash sent, the actual fraud amount reaches 100 million won.”

In 2017, when he was a senior in high school, Cho received an offer to advance to Europe from Doo. Former player Cho persuaded his parents to run a rice cake restaurant in Busan. Because I really wanted to go. For football players, high school 2-3 is the most pressing time for the future to be determined.

◆”Because I’m a former soccer player, I don’t think I can’t be deceived”
In a phone call with JTBC, former player Joe said, “I thought that a former professional soccer player could not be scammed,” and “I persuaded my parents for three days.” Former Joe’s parents received a loan of 100 million won for Mr. Do’s proposal. Jo’s father, Mr. Jo, said, “If you want to play soccer in Korea, networking and academic relations are important.”

But after that, the nightmare began. Former Joe left for Croatia in May 2017 and returned home after a month without joining any team. In August and December of the same year, and in January 2018, I left for Croatia again, but again, I was unable to sign a contract with any team. I only heard “wait” and “I’m looking for a team” and there were no contracts. At that time, I mostly stayed in hotels locally and paid for my living expenses by myself. During the most important period as a soccer player, both body and mind were broken.

Former Cho directly contacted the club that Mr. Do had promised to join by e-mail, but did not receive any response. It was only at this time that they noticed the scam. Mr. Do told his parents that he had left for Europe, but there was also a time when he made him stay in Korea. Former Joe said that he was told, “Turn off your phone,” feeling fear of imprisonment at the time.

◆ Hearing intimidating remarks that “can be prevented from playing soccer”

Cho, who was a high school student at the time, couldn’t even properly protest against Do. Mr. Do was kicked out due to a matchmaking, but he was still a senior in the soccer world. He also said that he heard intimidating remarks to the effect of “don’t do it,” “just follow me”, and “may prevent you from playing soccer.” In the Korean soccer world where’networking’ is still important, the name of former professional footballer Do Hwaseong has come too big. Mr. Do said he still had a strong connection in the football world.

Former Cho said, “Because there shouldn’t be any victims like me again,” he said, “because there shouldn’t be any other victims like me,” he said, “because there shouldn’t be any other victims like me,” he said, “because there shouldn’t be any other victims like me,” he said, “because there shouldn’t be any other victims like me,” he said, “because there shouldn’t be any other victims like me.” Former Joe joined the Austrian lower league team on his own last year. It received good reviews, but it was released after a new coronavirus outbreak broke out and gave up football. “I couldn’t tell my father for more money,” said Cho. “I am the eldest son. I had to make money myself.”

Former Joe’s father cried, “I had a short thought. When I see my son who gave up soccer, I am so sorry and heartbreaking.” Cho’s father, after being scammed, suffered from cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. We still operate a rice cake restaurant in Busan. It is said to have paid off 3 million won each month and only recently processed all the 100 million won loans. Cho rescued a legal representative and started a lawsuit against Doo on the 2nd to claim damages for the amount of fraudulent 79 million won.

◆ Victims who were scammed “I wanted to quit playing football”
Like previous players in Joe, players A and B, who had been deceived by Do, asked JTBC for an anonymous interview. I was still playing soccer, so I was afraid of the interview itself.

When they were in high school, they received an offer from Doh to advance into Croatia and left the country after giving up at the university they had accepted. However, he was scammed in almost the same way as Joe’s former player. After hearing the words “Today is a contract” and “Tomorrow is a contract”, I returned to Korea. After experiencing this, they said, “I hated football so much that I was stuck at home”, “Betrayed by a former professional footballer, I lost all my passion for football.”

However, I couldn’t stop playing soccer that I had been playing for my whole life, so I’m currently working at a local independent club. The victim, B, said, “It seems that only those who are most desperate for Dohwaseong have been picked.” Garam Kim (law firm Jihyuk), a member of the K-League Reward and Penalty, said, “In the case of Do Hwaseong, it is not good to be guilty of targeting desperate candidates for college entrance exams.” It’s easy,” he said.

◆”A dream of being an agent helping prospects sincerely”
Former Joe said his dream is to earn money and become a European agent different from Mr. Do. Former Joe said, “I will not be false, and I will be an agent to help football prospects dreaming of entering Europe.” Mr. Do, who was sentenced to one year and June in prison for fraud at the first trial, appealed last month. In the first trial, the charges were denied. JTBC asked the attorney, who served as the first instance of Mr. Do’s defense, the reason for the appeal, but received an answer saying, “I am resigned.”