 "Kim Jong-un has reportedly asked to ban Tottenham games in North Korea due to South Korean Son Heung-min's presence. Image: Reuters")
If you are a Tottenham Hotspur in North Korea, chances are you will not be able to follow your favourite English Premier League side for quite some time. This is basically because North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has reportedly banned Tottenham Hotspur matches from being shown in his country.
Now you must be wondering what the football club Tottenham Hotspur have to do with Kim Jong-un and why has he placed a ban on their matches in North Korea. The weird answer is that Spurs are captained by South Korean star Son Heung-min.
This means Spurs fans in North Korea won’t be able to watch them beat Manchester United on Sunday .
Football games with South Korean stars banned in North Korea
In fact, as per a report in The Sun, Kim Jong-un has banned telecasts of all Premier League games that may involve South Korean players.
It has also been reported that last year’s Premier League matches did not include Wolverhampton Wanderers games as they have South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan in their team. Even Brentford matches were missing due to their South Koran defender Kim Ji-soo.
This is not all. Reportedly Premier League matches are broadcast around four months after they are played. The matches are cut down from 90 to 60 minutes and are shown before news bulletins.
Reacting to the ban on a team that is struggling this season, a Spurs fan said: “The way this season has gone for Spurs, North Koreans can count themselves lucky not being subjected to their games.”
Is Kim Jong-un a football fan?
A study from an independent US think tank Stimson Center has stated that apart from the Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A were shown in North Korea in 2022. In 2023, they only showed the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and the World Cup.
The matches are shown on the state channel Korean Central Television.
It can be understood that football is something Kim Jong-un likes. A lot of dictators in the past have been football fans including late Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe, who supported Chelsea.