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‘Bigger club with bigger pressure” | 00:46
Kim Jong-un has banned Tottenham Hotspur matches from being shown in North Korea.
The Korean dictator has outlawed the Premier League club, coached by Australian Ange Postecoglou, because the team is captained by South Korean star Son Heung-min.
As reported by The Sun, the rogue regime leader has banned all Premier League games from being broadcast in his country — if the team has a South Korean players on its roster.
It means the so-called tyrant’s favourite team — Manchester United — will also be blacked out in his country because the Red Devils play Tottenham on Monday morning (AEDT).
A report also revealed coverage in North Korea of last year’s Premier League did not include Wolverhampton Wanderers because of their South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan, or Brentford, who have his countryman, defender Kim Ji-soo.
Match coverage in the secretive state is shortened from 90 minutes to 60 and games are shown before news bulletins — and about four months after they are played.
Son Heung-Min applauds fans. Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP.Source: AFPWith his team languishing 14th in the league, Tottenham fan Tom Bell said: “The way this season has gone for Spurs, North Koreans can count themselves lucky not being subjected to their games.”
The findings come in a report by the independent US think tank Stimson Center’s probe into North Korea.
State TV is rife with propaganda but sport is “one of the few moments each day when state TV is not trying to send an overt or underlying message to its viewers,” analysis found.
The Center’s Martyn Williams said: “We thought it was interesting.
“We just saw a lot of football on KCTV. It’s the main international sport they broadcast.”
The report says that in 2022, North Korean telly carried coverage of England’s top flight plus Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A.
But the following year, KCTV settled the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the World Cup.
Ange Postecoglou (L) embraces South Korean striker Son Heung-Min. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP.Source: AFP
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency photo shows Kim Jong Un visiting the Ministry of National Defence.Source: AFPEnglish football has also found fans among other dictators.
Late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro was an Arsenal fan and Zimbabwe tyrant Robert Mugabe, who died in 2019, supported Chelsea.
Press coverage being diverted away from Postecoglou’s tenuous hold on his job will be a welcomed distraction for the club.
The former Socceroos manager’s second season with the London club has been a trainwreck with the side collapsing to be 14th on the Premier League table – as well as being knocked out of the League Cup and FA Cup.
Fans have turned on Postecoglou, but fans have been far more vocal in calling for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to be ousted.
As first reported by The Sun, Spurs fans have planned a mass protest for Monday morning’s game against United, where they will demand Levy to stand down.
The club has not won a major trophy since 2008.
