K-League to introduce promotion-relegation

The K-League announced that radical plans are being discussed to introduce a promotion-relegation system to South Korea’s top tier.

K-League general secretary Ahn Ki-Hun confirmed that the competition was set to undergo major changes in the future with a ‘split system’ based on Scotland’s Premier League (SPL) also to be introduced to maintain interest.

“By the introduction of the split system, in the top league we can watch more matches between rivals like Suwon and Seoul and furthermore the relegation battle will be a new point of interest,” Ahn said.

The K-League, which suffered a crisis earlier this year after a match-fixing scandal emerged, currently has 16 clubs, with a 30-round regular season followed by a top six play-offs championship, while there is no relegation for the bottom clubs.

However, it is understood under the new proposal that the play-offs would be abolished to make way with the league split in two late in the campaign, with the threat of relegation for those who finish near the bottom of the table.

Ahn stressed the proposal was still up for discussion and that the format had not been decided.

“This system has been a bit rushed in. So we are expecting a lot of side effects. But this decision will ultimately benefit the K-League,” he said.

The K-League has struggled to generate interest in games late in the season which are effectively dead rubbers, however this proposal would likely eliminate those encounters.

It is unknown which clubs would be in the running for promotion, as Korea’s second tier National League is currently run by a separate body to the K-League.