The management agency of South Korean national football team player Lee Kang-in has strongly refuted recent online rumors regarding internal discord within the national team, calling them "completely groundless" and warning of strong legal action.
The Black Label, Lee Kang-in's management agency, released an official statement today (October 13), stating, "Groundless information regarding player Lee Kang-in has been spreading indiscriminately online recently," and clearly clarifying that the allegations in question are entirely false and have nothing to do with the player.
Amid the national team's recent sluggish performance, unverified rumors such as joint retirement rumors among certain players and internal conflicts within the squad have spread rapidly.
Previously, following the match against Uzbekistan on October 6, it became known that key players born in 1996, referred to as the "96 line"—including Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom, and Hwang Hee-chan—held a meeting with officials from the Korea Football Association, triggering rumors of a joint retirement.
In the process, some netizens and YouTubers spread rumors of discord alleging that the "96 line" formed a faction, was dissatisfied with the leadership of captain Son Heung-min, and instigated internal conflict within the team, with Lee Kang-in behind it all.
Suspicions were even raised that they were involved in a movement to exclude Son Heung-min from the national team, causing the rumors of team discord to spread quickly.
In fact, some YouTube videos spread unverified dialogue while arbitrarily editing scenes from the bench or the pitch with added subtitles, and personal attacks and malicious comments continue to flood Lee Kang-in's personal social media accounts.
However, following the agency's announcement of a strong legal response policy, it was confirmed that some related videos, including YouTube Shorts content that raised the suspicions, have been deleted.
The agency emphasized, "We are currently collecting data from various angles regarding the spread of false information and defamation posts online, and we will do our best to protect the player by taking strong legal procedures depending on the severity of the matter."
Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Kim Gi-hyeon | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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