Was the racial discrimination incident involving Son Heung-min a "historic misunderstanding"... It was reportedly not "Ni Hao," but "Mijo (my son)" — "Even the original whistleblower has apologized"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The controversy over racial discrimination directed at Son Heung-min (34, LAFC) has reached a new turning point following rebuttals from the player himself and an apology from the original whistleblower.

The controversy erupted immediately after the 2-2 draw in the 32nd round of the 2026 season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the U.S. professional football league, between LAFC and LA Galaxy held at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, U.S., on the 26th (Korean time).

A video was released on social media (SNS) showing a spectator repeatedly shouting a specific word at Son Heung-min as he greeted people after the match. The poster of the video claimed that the fan had shouted "Ni Hao," a Chinese greeting. Along with criticism that this constituted clear racial discrimination against Korean national Son Heung-min, demands for the revocation of season tickets poured in. Foreign media outlets, including the U.S. publication "New York Post," also reported on the incident, causing the controversy to spread rapidly.

However, the situation reversed when the spectator identified as the party involved stepped forward to explain directly. Identifying himself as a season ticket holder who has supported LAFC since its founding, he rebutted that the word he shouted was not "Ni Hao," but the Spanish term "Mijo."

"Mijo" is a colloquial abbreviation of the Spanish phrase "Mi hijo (my son)" and is used as a familiar term of endearment for someone close. It was explained that this was a Spanish-style wordplay based on the fact that Son Heung-min's English surname, "Son," means "son" in English. He explained that surrounding spectators had mistakenly understood his remark to be in Chinese.

After the party involved provided a specific explanation, it is reported that the whistleblower who initially posted the video acknowledged the misunderstanding and apologized to the individual after deleting the post.

However, as there is no additional objective evidence to verify the actual audio of the statement, and no official stance or investigation results have yet been issued by LAFC or the MLS office, it remains difficult to definitively conclude that this incident was a simple misunderstanding.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original