Chun-soo Assaulted Bar Hostess Before Rotterdam Flight
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Troubled Feyenoord Rotterdam striker Lee Chun-soo seems more of an attacker off the pitch than on it.
According to police, Lee, who was apparently having too much fun the night before leaving for Rotterdam, was accused of assaulting a waitress at a hostess bar in southern Seoul.
The 27-year-old victim originally sought to press charges against the South Korean international but later withdrew her suit.
``Lee had drank at the bar on Sept. 21, a day before he left for the Netherlands, and had been sued by the female employee, who claimed to have been assaulted by Lee,'' said an official from the Gangnam police station.
``However, she suddenly decide to withdraw her suit and thus waive her right for arraignment,'' he said, declining to comment whether the alleged victim and footballer reached a settlement. ``Lee is not being investigated over the incident.''
In an interview with vernacular daily, Ilgan Sports, the bar hostess admitted that there was a ``trivial'' altercation between her and Lee.
``It wasn't a big deal that deserves so much news coverage,'' she was quoted as saying. ``I don't want Lee's playing career to end because of this.''
She said she didn't receive money from the footballer in a settlement.
``We were both drunk, and it's hard to say whose fault it was that started the fight,'' she said. ``I filed the suit against him in a state of anger the following morning but called the police officer to withdraw the suit in the afternoon.''
About the severity of Lee's actions, she said ``It wasn't much. The doctor didn't even write me a diagnosis.''
Lee left Feyenoord and made a surprise return to Seoul Wednesday, with the team explaining it as a two-week break to treat his flu and ``homesickness.''
IFA Sports, which represents Lee, denied that his home visit has anything to do with the assault incident.
Lee's unexpected home visit and the unusual explanation for it raised speculations whether the footballer is trying to plot his way out of Feyenoord after playing just four games for the Dutch giants.
The 26-year-old striker, who was labeled a bust in his past spells with Real Sociedad and Numancia, admitted experiencing trouble adapting to life and football in Rotterdam.
The revelation of the bar incident adds another embarrassing tilt to the career of the star footballer, who once called himself ``better than Beckham.'' It's now becoming clear that Lee will likely never match the respect the British icon commands from his opponents, nor from women.