Son Heung-Min

Son Heung-Min is a South Korean professional footballer who serves as club captain and forward at Tottenham Hotspur and captains the South Korea national team. Born in Chuncheon on 8 July 1992, he is the most recognised Asian footballer in Premier League history and the player featured in the Midnite betting ad banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority in 2023.

After moving to Germany as a teenager, Son came through Hamburger SV's youth system and made his senior Bundesliga debut in 2010. He spent three seasons at Hamburg before joining Bayer Leverkusen in 2013, then transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in 2015 for a then-club-record fee of around £22 million.

At Tottenham, Son became the most successful Asian player in Premier League history. He shared the Premier League Golden Boot for the 2021-22 season with Mohamed Salah on 23 goals, and in April 2023 became the first Asian player to score 100 Premier League goals. He was appointed Tottenham club captain in 2023.

Internationally, Son has been a senior South Korea international since December 2010 and has captained the national team. He won the Asian Games gold medal in 2018, earning an exemption from mandatory South Korean military service.

Son's appearance in gambling-industry news stems from a 2023 ASA ruling against the betting operator Midnite. The ASA banned a Midnite ad featuring Son, finding it irresponsible under CAP Code social-responsibility rules because it used Son's emotional, passion-driven football imagery to frame gambling as part of sport's excitement. Industry commentary highlighted the ruling as evidence that gambling ad regulators are now policing emotional framing, not just mechanics such as bonus offers or under-25 imagery. Son was not a party to the ruling and was not sanctioned.