The Korea Football Association held a board of directors meeting in the conference room of the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 28th and decided to pardon 100 soccer players who are being disciplined. It is the first time in 14 years since 2009 that the association has carried out an amnesty.
Those subject to pardon are former and 안전놀이터,current players, coaches, referees, and group executives who are being disciplined for various misconduct. 48 people, about half of the subjects, were expelled in 2011 for match-fixing in professional football.
The association said, “We congratulated ourselves on advancing to the 10th consecutive World Cup last year and advancing to the round of 16 in the World Cup in Qatar, and reflected the opinions of the frontlines who proposed an amnesty for harmony and a new start in the football world. There is also the purpose of giving another chance to footballers who are judged to have self-reflection and self-reflection for a long time.”
The public’s eyes on the association’s decision are cold. Above all, there is an atmosphere of indignation at the fact that a large number of players who will commit match-fixing crimes have been pardoned.
A pardon is possible. Every crime has a penalty. The sentences for theft and murder are never the same. Society does not prevent social activities of criminals who have completed their sentences. Even soccer players have room to give themselves another chance if they have paid enough for their wrongdoing.
The problem is that match-fixing is an extremely difficult crime to forgive. In Korea, Article 41 of the Penal Code includes the death penalty as the maximum punishment in the category of punishment. Although the death penalty is not actually carried out, the death sentence is imposed on the heinous criminals or those whose crimes are extremely bad and are judged to be impossible to rehabilitate.
Match-fixing offenders are those who, at least within the soccer world, have committed crimes of such bad quality that it is not strange even if they are sentenced to death. The association explained, “People with a high degree of misogyny were excluded from the pardon,” but it is questionable whether it is reasonable to consider the degree of misconduct in match-fixing. It is unknown what criteria can be used to measure the seriousness of crimes that undermine fairness, which is the greatest value of sports.
Even the Korea Professional Football Federation, which can be seen as the biggest victim of the match-fixing case, is known to have opposed the association’s amnesty. An official familiar with the federation’s circumstances said, “I know that the association brought up the story of pardon to the federation about a month ago. I heard that the federation expressed a negative position. The federation objected because it was worried that it could give the wrong message because professional football is still in a situation where it cannot be considered safe from match fixing.”
Nevertheless, the association issued an amnesty while ignoring the federation’s opinion. From the beginning, the association had no intention of listening to the voice of the professional football side, and it seems that it was in fact ‘Dapjeongneo’.
The thoughts of professional soccer teams are not different. An official from a soccer team said, “It seems that the organization called the association is rather less aware of the gravity of match fixing. In recent years, there have been cases of suspected match fixing. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking. It is really irresponsible to think that it has nothing to do with them,” he sighed.
In fact, just five years ago, in 2018, Lee Han-saem received a match-fixing offer and reported it to the federation. The person who suggested match-fixing to Lee Han-saem was also a famous professional soccer player. After that, there was a case of suspected match fixing. The K-League is absolutely not a match-fixing safe zone.
The professional soccer world still remembers the pain and shock of match fixing. The same goes for organizations, teams, members, and soccer fans who have been hurt more than anyone else.
Perhaps conscious of public opinion, the association announced the amnesty news an hour before the Uruguay kickoff. It is worthy of suspicion that he hoped to bury it as much as possible somehow. It can also be interpreted as meaning that you are not proud of yourself.
In recent years, the association has been criticized and shunned by the public as well as the football world due to its continued hasty administration. Chung Mong-kyu, president of the association, was disgraced due to a diplomatic disaster, and the recent process of appointing a national team coach was not smooth, and he lost his trust. Now, even the rare ’emptying’ of pardon for match-fixing offenders has come out. It is impossible to predict how far the association will fall.