A soccer promotion system encompassing professional, semi-professional, and amateur levels will be implemented from 2027.
The promotion system for Korean adult soccer, encompassing professional, semi-professional, and amateur levels, will be implemented in earnest from 2027.
On the 28th, the Korea Football Association recently agreed with the Professional Football Federation to implement a promotion and relegation system between the second division (K League 2) and the third division (K3 League). “The promotion and relegation teams for 2027 will be determined based on the performance of the 2026 season,” he announced. It was decided to simultaneously promote promotion between the 4th division (K4 League) and 5th division (K5 League).
The association emphasized, “The promotion system for the entire Korean adult soccer system, from the 1st division for professional soccer to the 7th division for amateur soccer, will be virtually completed in three years.”
The association gave significance to the fact that the promotion and relegation system was properly established 44 years after professional soccer was first launched in 1983.
Currently, in domestic soccer, promotion and relegation systems are implemented only between professional (K League 1 and 2), semi-professional (K3 and K4 league), and amateur (K5, 6 and 7 league) leagues. The promotion and relegation system has been implemented between the professional leagues, Division 1 and Division 2, for more than 10 years, and from 2021, the promotion and relegation system has also been introduced between the K3 and K4 leagues. The K5~K7 league, an amateur league, has been implementing its own promotion and relegation system since 2020.
However, there was no promotion system between pro and semi-pro or semi-pro and amateur. Therefore, realizing a complete promotion and relegation system throughout the adult league has been a long-standing task for Korean soccer.
The Korea Football Association said, “The association and the professional federation have continued discussions over the past few years to fully implement the promotion and relegation system from Division 1 to Division 7,” and added, “In particular, divisions 2 (K League 2) and 3 (K3 League) were key tasks.” He explained, “After gradually narrowing down the differences between the two sides over the implementation of the promotion system between the two sides, an agreement was reached.” According to the implementation policy established by the Association and the Professional Federation, in order for a K3 League team to be promoted to K League 2, it must obtain a K League club license determined by the Professional Football Federation and win the K3 League in that season. The K-League club license sets out the basic items that a club must have as a professional team in various areas such as stadium facilities, office staff size, and youth team development. If there is a K3 League team that meets this requirement in the season, promotion and relegation between the 2nd and 3rd divisions will occur. On the other hand, if no team meets the conditions for promotion to the second division, no team will be relegated to the third division. It was decided to determine detailed implementation methods, such as implementation of a promotion play-off or automatic promotion between the lowest ranked team in the 2nd division and the highest team in the 3rd division, through continued consultation. Promotion and relegation of the K4 League and K5 League will also be implemented from 2027. The top two teams (1st and 2nd) in the K5 League in that season will be promoted to the K4 League next season if they meet the conditions for obtaining a K4 League club license. However, even if a team is promoted from K5 to K4, the relegation of the K4 team is temporarily postponed. Regarding this, the Korea Football Association explained, “Relegation has been temporarily put on hold considering the expansion of the number of teams in the K4 League and the difference in environment between the current semi-professional K4 League and the K5 League, where club players play.” Meanwhile, in order to expand the professional soccer market, the association and the professional league are enforcing fast-track regulations, such as an exception clause that allows local governments with a population of more than 500,000 or companies within the top 100 domestic companies to directly enter the K League 2 if they directly establish a professional team after 2027. I decided to leave it. In addition, in order to expand and strengthen the foundation of the K4 League, new teams that acquire a K4 club license for the time being after 2027 will be able to directly participate in the K4 League without going through the K5 League. 고스톱
No comments yet