Seoul: South Korean football clubs will be able to acquire as many foreign players as they want starting next season. The Korea Professional Football League (K League) announced Thursday it will lift limits on the number of foreign players for each club in 2026. The decision was reached during the board of directors meeting held earlier in the day.
According to Yonhap News Agency, currently, clubs in the top-flight K League 1 can sign up to six foreign-born players but can only play four of them at the same time. Other Asian clubs have much looser quota systems, with some teams employing a dozen players from countries such as Spain, England, Brazil, France, and Argentina.
In recent months, clubs had asked the K League to consider at least easing the quota so that they could be more competitive at Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League tournaments. Heeding those voices, the league explained Thursday that it wanted to improve the quality of play for K League clubs at AFC events and also keep up with international football trends.
The league also said it hoped to ensure more diversity in the domestic competition. In the K League 1, teams will be able to field five foreign-born players in the same match, up from four. Per each match, K League 1 teams can put a maximum of five foreign players on their squad list. This is designed to ensure teams won’t hoard too many foreign players and there will still be enough playing opportunities for homegrown players.