Japan’s professional soccer league has officially announced that it will start its season in the fall and end the following spring. This has led to calls for Korean professional soccer to follow suit.
“After a board meeting, the J-League has decided to change the way the season is run from the 2026-2027 season,” the J-League said on its website on the 19th, explaining, “In order to realize the vision of the J-League, the board of directors has decided that a ‘season switch’ should be implemented.”
According to the J-League’s announcement, the 2026 J-League will open the first week of August, play through the second week of December, and then take a winter break until the third week of February 2027. It will then close in the last week of May 2027.
The reason for Japan’s decision is to follow the trend of world soccer.
Currently, most soccer leagues around the world, including the European leagues, have adopted an off-season system. In particular, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has recently made the change in its AFC Champions League (ACL), which recognizes the best clubs in Asia, due to the growing power of countries in West Asia and the Middle East.
Until now, only East Asian countries South Korea, China, and Japan have played the season on the Spring Festival. This was due to the weather, especially in winter, which was considered difficult to play soccer in.
However, Japan has decided to change the flow to meet the “global standard. The J-League has even come up with a specific plan to solve the problem of winter, which has been cited as a difficulty in East Asia, with a break of about 11 weeks. The J-League also hopes that the change will make it easier for players to transfer to Europe.
While Japan’s move to Chuseok has spurred calls for Korean soccer to adopt the system, the country has no immediate plans. The Korean Football Association, which organizes the country’s professional soccer, is reportedly not considering switching to Chuseon right away, citing concerns about the turf environment and spectator revenue.
However, officials on the field disagree with the league. 월카지노
Choi Sun-ho, head coach of Suwon FC, Kim Byung-ji, CEO of Gangwon FC, and Yoon Jeong-hwan, head coach of Gangwon FC, who attended the VIP premiere of “K League: The Universe,” an exhibition on the 40th anniversary of the league, organized by the K League on April 21, expressed their opinions on the Chuseok Festival. They agreed that it is up to the K League’s governing body to decide the direction of the league, but that it is not impossible to switch to Chuseon.