The vice presidents and entire board of directors of the Korea Football Association(KFA) are set to step down to assume responsibility over a controversy that had caused a commotion in the footballing world last month.

The association said on Tuesday that its vice presidents and all board members had expressed intent to step down, adding that it expects to receive official resignation letters from them in coming days.

According to the KFA’s statutes, a senior official of the association is considered to have resigned if they tender their letter of resignation regardless of whether it is accepted or not.

The association came under fire after it decided to pardon 100 people, including former and current players, managers and referees, who were banned from Korean football for committing various illegalities. The decision came last Tuesday when South Korea was set to compete against Uruguay in a friendly match.

The decision drew strong criticism from the public as the pardon included 48 players who had been expelled for their involvement in match-fixing in 2011. The association said the pardon was aimed at commemorating the fact that South Korea had qualified for the Round of 16 in the Qatar World Cup.

In the face of the strong backlash, the KFA convened a board of directors’ meeting and withdrew the decision to grant the pardons just three days afterward.