KFA calls board meeting to review controversial pardons

The Korea Football Association (KFA) on Thursday called an unscheduled meeting of its board to review a highly controversial decision to pardon 100 people banned or suspended from Korean football for a number of infractions including match-fixing.

The KFA on Tuesday unexpectedly announced that it would pardon 100 former and current players, coaches and referees who had been suspended or disciplined. Forty-eight of the 100 people had been banned for match-fixing.

The KFA said that the decision was made to celebrate the Korean national team’s achievement in qualifying for the World Cup 10 times in a row and reaching the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

This is the first time the KFA has issued a pardon since 2009.

The announcement, made minutes before Korea faced Uruguay on Tuesday, faced an immediate backlash with fans flooding the KFA's social media pages calling for the decision to be reversed. The Red Devils, the official Korean national team supporter's group, issued a statement Wednesday threating to boycott future games if the pardons stood.

Lawmaker Ha Tae-gyung also said on Facebook on Wednesday that the decision has established a really bad precedent.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]