Lee Young-pyo and Lee Dong-guk, vice presidents of the Korea Football Association, apologized for the surprise pardon for those involved in match-fixing and decided to step down as vice-presidents.
In a post posted on his SNS, Lee Young-pyo said, “I will take responsibility for failing to block the passage of the board of directors in relation to the Football Association’s disciplinary pardon.”
Lee Dong-guk also wrote on his SNS, “I feel a sense of responsibility for not stopping it by confidently speaking regarding the experience of a Gyeonggi-doer, even though it was a considerable part of the agenda internally.”
Cho Won-hee, chairman of the Social Contribution Committee, also posted a message on social media that he would resign at the same time.
On the 28th of last month, the Korea Football Association held a board meeting ahead of an evaluation match with the Uruguay national soccer team and announced that it would pardon 100 former and incumbent players, coaches, and referees who were disciplined for various misconduct, including match-fixing.
Afterwards, as backlash continued inside and outside the football world, the board of directors held once more and withdrew the decision to pardon in three days.
