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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Mark Walker

Celtic set for crucial meeting over Yang's Asian Games participation

Yang Hyun-jun signed a new Celtic contract in May. (Image: Mark Runnacles/Shutterstock)

South Korean football chiefs will meet with Celtic next week to decide on Yang Hyun-jun's timescale preparations for the Asian Games.

Yang was named as one of their overage players for the South Korean squad for the football section of the Asian Games, which takes place in Japan from 15 September to 3 October.

Celtic could play hardball and refuse to release Yang because the tournament is not under a FIFA international window and they did this three years ago with former striker Oh Hyeon-gyu, despite a delegation from South Korea visiting Scotland to plead Oh's case.

This time, Celtic are resigned to releasing Yang, who could win exemption from military service if South Korea wins the tournament for the fourth time in a row.


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Manager Martin O'Neill said this month: "He’s in and also he’s got military duties and all that type of stuff, you know, so he’s got all of that there.

“So we might have to miss him for a number of weeks, but so be it. But we knew that before we extended his contract."

Yang would already miss the Glasgow Derby showdown in September and almost certainly a couple of European games too.

However, South Korea wants their players to join up for a training camp from the start of September to prepare for the tournament.

But Celtic are highly unlikely to agree to release him for that though and the exact dates will be known on Thursday when the draw is made.

And manager Lee Min-sung will contact Celtic next week after the draw.

The South Korean FA stated: "Once the draw is made, we will contact the clubs of all nine European-based players and discover their availability.

"The actual dates for their departure to Japan will vary depending on negotiations with each club."

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