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K League coaches call for looser foreign player quota ahead of continental tournaments

Published: 04 Sep. 2025, 14:56

Head coaches of the four K League 1 clubs set to compete at the 2025-2026 Asian Football Confederation Champions League tournaments pose for photos before their joint press conference at the Korea Football Association House in Seoul on Sept. 4. From left: Shin Tae-yong of Ulsan HD FC, Chung Kyung-ho of Gangwon FC, Kim Gi-dong of FC Seoul and Park Tae-ha of the Pohang Steelers. [YONHAP]

Head coaches for the four Korean clubs competing in upcoming Asian tournaments called for a rule change on Thursday that would allow them to deploy more foreign players in continental competitions.

Starting later in September, Ulsan Hyundai FC, Gangwon FC, and FC Seoul of the K League 1 will participate in the top-tier Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite, while the Pohang Steelers, another K League 1 side, will compete in the AFC Champions League Two.

Currently, K League 1 clubs 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 — Johor Darul Ta'zim of Malaysia, for instance, has more than a dozen players from countries such as Spain, England, Brazil, France and Argentina.

This discrepancy can hurt Korean clubs' competitiveness at AFC events, the coaches said at their joint press conference on Thursday.

"I absolutely think we have to loosen our foreign player quotas if we want to give any meaning to even playing at the AFC Champions League," Ulsan head coach Shin Tae-yong said. "Teams like Johor can have an entire starting lineup of foreign-born players, and teams in Saudi Arabia have a separate squad of foreign players just for the AFC tournament. We only get to have four such players.

"I understand why we have the limit in the domestic league," Shin continued. "But we have to consider loosening it for the AFC Champions League."

FC Seoul's Kim Gi-dong agreed.

"In the past, we used to regard teams from Southeast Asia as being several notches below K League teams," he said. "But some clubs from there with deep pockets can field nine or 10 foreign-born players at a time, and that makes it tough for us to beat them. That's why we are hearing that K League teams aren't as competitive as before."

Pohang head coach Park Tae-ha said he closely examined the matter while serving as the K League's technical director from 2021 to 2023.

Head coaches of the four K League 1 clubs set to compete at 2025-2026 Asian Football Confederation Champions League tournaments attend their joint press conference at the Korea Football Association House in Seoul on Sept. 4. From left: Shin Tae-yong of Ulsan HD FC, Chung Kyung-ho of Gangwon FC, Kim Gi-dong of FC Seoul and Park Tae-ha of Pohang Steelers. [YONHAP]

"This is an extremely sensitive issue," he said. "Honestly, I think it's difficult for the K League to grow the pie the way it's set up now. I do think this problem has to be resolved at some point, but it's probably difficult to do so at this moment."

Chung Kyung-ho of Gangwon FC, whose club will be playing at an AFC tournament for the first time, was careful not to pick any side.

"Since we'll be playing at our first AFC Champions League, I will have to see first how we fare against other Asian teams before commenting on how K League clubs stack up," Chung said. "I want to see how those teams' foreign players do against us."

All four coaches agreed that taking care of the first match will be crucial.

"We want to get our first win out of the way as quickly as possible," Chung said. "If we can start winning early, then I think we will be able to ride that momentum and have a really good tournament the rest of the way."

FC Seoul's Kim said he will count on his captain and former Manchester United star Jesse Lingard to do some heavy lifting.

"He has played for England and in the Premier League, but this will be his first AFC Champions League," Kim said. "I know he's really looking forward to this and he's working hard for this competition."

At the top tournament, Ulsan, Gangwon FC and FC Seoul will be among 12 teams in the East Region during the league stage, up against clubs from Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. From September to February, they will play eight other teams within the region — four at home and four away — and the top eight will advance to the round of 16. They will be joined by the top eight teams from the West Region, comprising clubs from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates.

The three Korean clubs will not face one another during the league stage.

The Champions League Two follows a more conventional format, with 32 teams drawn into eight groups of four and the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stage. The East and West regions will each have four groups.

The Pohang Steelers are in Group H with BG Pathum United of Thailand, Kaya-Iloilo of the Philippines and Tampines Rovers of Singapore. Their matches will be played from September to December.

Last season, the knockout stages for both tournaments had just one Korean club each: Gwangju FC at the top event and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at the lower-tier event.

Yonhap