V League raises Asia Quota player pay; women to earn more

Volleyball

Published: 10 Jan. 2024, 10:00

V League raises Asia Quota player pay; women to earn more

From left: Reina Tokoku of the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders, Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi of the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, Wipawee Srithong of Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, Thanacha Sooksod of Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass, Pornpun Guedpard of the Hwaseong IBK Altos, Iris Tolenada of GS Caltex Seoul Kixx and Mar-jana Phillips of the Gwangju AI Peppers pose for a photo during a media day at Hotel Riviera in southern Seoul on Oct. 12, 2023. [NEWS1]

The V League’s Asia Quota players will receive a pay raise next year, the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) announced Monday.

The Asia Quota is a system adopted ahead of the 2023-24 season through which V League teams can add a second foreign player to their squad from selected Asian countries.

V League opens to more foreign players with expanded Asia Quota draft

The current Asia Quota picks all receive $100,000 annually. Starting next season, however, first-year Asia Quota picks in the women’s V League will receive $125,000, and second-year Asia Quota players will earn $150,000.

Over in the men’s V League, first-year Asia Quota picks will not see a pay raise and still earn $100,000, but second-year players will receive $120,000.

The pay raise comes after both the men and women’s teams have seen some success with the Asia Quota draft so far, with multiple Asia Quota picks having played key roles in their respective teams this season.

In the men’s V League, Mongolian middle blocker Bayarsaikhan Batsukh of Ansan OK Financial Group Okman has shown a solid performance in defense and established himself as a regular pick.

Asia Quota picks in the women’s V League have been impressive as well, including Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi of the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, who has been the team’s top scorer this season.

The KOVO also said it will change the order of which women’s V League teams select Asia Quota players next season; the change does not apply to the men’s teams.

All seven teams were picked randomly last year.

Starting this year, the bottom three teams from the previous season will get the first picks. The remaining four teams will pick next.

The change may help the bottom teams reinforce their squad more effectively, as they will be able to choose the players they want before the top teams do.

The pay raise and player selection order are not the only changes the Asia Quota draft has seen since the adoption last year.

Last month, the KOVO also raised the number of Asian countries from which V League teams can recruit players from the current 10 to 65 — the number of Asian countries enrolled in the Asian Volleyball Confederation.

The Asia Quota draft for the 2024-25 V League season will take place in April this year in Jeju.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]