[WHY] Hot or cold, yes or no: Should the K League change its season schedule?

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[WHY] Hot or cold, yes or no: Should the K League change its season schedule?

Published: 24 Nov. 2024, 14:51 Updated: 25 Nov. 2024, 17:05

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

FC Seoul, in red, play against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors during a K League 1 match at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on May 5, 2023. [YONHAP]

Will the K League ever catch a break from the sweltering Korean summer?

Running on a season that spans across the scorching midyear months has caused more than a little discomfort for players and fans alike, with a spectator even passing out due to the heat at a game in Jeju in August, but a proposed change to the calendar could pose the opposite problem.

Talks are underway about switching from the current one-calendar year system running from March to December to a two-calendar year format that runs from August to May the following year, which brings its own set of new icy inconveniences for both the players and the clubs.

But it remains unclear whether such a change will happen soon. The K League told the Korea JoongAng Daily that it is only discussing the matter internally at this stage while remaining open to “various possibilities.”

Multiple K League clubs’ administrative figures have expressed favor for the two-year format during a conference held to discuss whether such a change would benefit the league at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in central Seoul on Nov. 13.

Their voices about the conversion comes in the wake of changes happening elsewhere in Asia.

The AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), Asia’s top-tier club football tournament, converted from a one-year system to a two-year format from the 2023-24 season. Japan’s J League has also decided to do the same starting from the 2026-27 campaign.

But why hasn’t the K League followed the trend yet, and what impact would converting to the two-year system bring to the league and its players?

As the temperature falls, so will crowd sizes

Frigid winter conditions could make it much harder to fill seats.

With the two-year system spreading matches across December, January and February — when the temperature in Korea can drop as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four degrees Fahrenheit) — K League clubs are highly likely to suffer as fewer fans are willing to brave the chill just to cheer in person.

The J League's decision to give the cross-year season a punt was made with a lesser degree of concern over crowd sizes.

“The winter in Japan is more mild, especially in the Kyushu area, which gives Japan an edge in terms of climate when operating their football league,” said Sports Industry & Management Associate Professor Lee Jong-sung from Hanyang University during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. “The profit loss from spectators will come once the K League adopts the two-year system.”

Gangwon FC, in orange, play against the Suwon Samsung Bluewings during a K League 1 match at Suwon World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Dec. 2, 2023. [YONHAP]

Changing to a two-year system would be particularly harsh on Gangwon FC as the club plays in Korea’s coldest province.

“As for Gangwon FC, it would be challenging for them to play home games if they don’t play inside a dome or something,” Lee said.

Not just Gangwon, but Seoul and Gyeonggi also face frigid winters. Relocating matches from those regions to southern areas just for the winter is an option, but that requires close cooperation with other teams regularly.

K League teams have yet to go public with their positions about the two-year system or effects the change could bring upon the league.

A Gwangju FC official reached by the Korea JoongAng Daily declined to comment on the club’s view on the current or two-year system.

Moving to the great indoors is expensive

The severe winter weather and accompanying snow increases the need for K League clubs to train in indoor facilities.

Teams without them, however, would have to build new facilities, which imposes a significant cost burden on clubs with small budgets. Not to mention, cities that own K League clubs would also have to raise their budgets for the teams.

Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul [YONHAP]

The financial implications render club support for the two-year system highly improbable.

“One advantage of maintaining the one-year system is that clubs and local governments do not have to increase their budgets,” Lee said. “It remains uncertain why the K League hasn’t been able to publicly discuss switching to the two-year system, but I think it is because the K League would face opposition from the clubs.

“But as far as I know, the K League is studying the factors it needs for the two-year system, so I think the debate about the two-year system will arise soon.”

Low temps mean high injury risks

Team physios could have their hands full with a transition to the two-year system, as the brutal winter conditions put players at a more severe risk of injury.

A doctor told the Korea JoongAng Daily that in the winter, when the temperature goes down to as low as minus 20 degrees, players use more energy in order to maintain their body temperature, but this can lead to poor blood circulation and result in compromised flexibility in joints.

This can also put extra fatigue on players’ muscles, which in turn could see players not reacting quickly during games.

Busan IPark, in white, react during the K League promotion-relegation playoff against Suwon FC at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Dec. 9, 2023. [NEWS1]

“Consequently, players’ risk of getting ligament, sinew or muscle injuries increases in the cold winter, so they need to prepare well in order to avoid it,” the doctor said.

A fitness coach also shared similar thoughts on the risk of injury in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily.

“You warm up in order to allow your muscles to move well,” the coach said. “A warm-up that increases your body temperature by one degree can help your body function better. But even if players warm up, they don’t always move throughout the 90 minutes.

“That inevitably drops their body temperature, so if, for example, defenders sprint all of a sudden after standing still, it can definitely hurt their muscles.”

Is the change beneficial to the league?

The two-year format would see the K League and ACLE run at the same time, which can allow K League clubs to carry their performance into the continental tournament without significant changes midway through.

As the K League season runs from March to December and the ACLE campaign unfolds from August to the next May, K League teams start the knockout stage of the tournament from February the following year, when they have made multiple signings to the squad after the season.

This puts K League teams in a situation where they have to play knockout stage games before they even form enough cohesion with new players.

The Pohang Steelers' Heo Yong-jun, left, vies for the ball during the 2023-24 AFC Champions League round of 16 match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang on Feb. 20. [NEWS1]

This was the case in the 2023-24 AFC Champions League — the predecessor to the ACLE — when the Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors played head-to-head in the round of 16 in February after they made many changes to their squads.

Both clubs were unable to deliver the same performance they demonstrated in the group stages, not just because they returned to action two months after the previous K League season had ended, but they had essentially become new teams with the changes.

This was more apparent for the Steelers, who even had new manager Park Tae-ha coaching the squad for the first time in the Champions League.

With the new manager coaching the revamped squad, the Steelers were unable to deliver the same performance they had displayed earlier and lost 3-1 on aggregate in the round of 16.

The Steelers had seen a better run before that match, however, with the Pohang side finishing as 2023 K League 1 runners-up and beating Jeonbuk in the final of the 2023 Korean FA Cup, now called the Korea Cup.

Converting to the two-year system would not put K League teams in that situation, although player or manager changes would still happen sometimes in the middle of an ongoing season.

The gap between J and K gets bigger

The J League clubs will not face such a situation upon converting to the two-year system.

The change will allow the Japanese teams to maintain their performance from the domestic league in the ACLE, which can put them at an advantage over K League teams when competing in the tournament.

“It will obviously happen,” Lee said about the possibility of J League teams performing better in the ACLE under the two-year system. “That is an external factor, but if a factor other than the team’s squad quality grows big, it could bring a change.

“There is a joke that if a top K League team loses to some underdog J League team in the ACLE with a poor performance and unbelievable results like this happen, those clubs that opposed the two-year system would reverse their position.”

Ulsan HD, in blue, react after losing an 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite match against Kawasaki Frontale at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Sept. 18. [YONHAP]

Even under the same one-year system, the level gap between J League and K League teams has been visible in this season’s ACLE.

Gwangju suffered a 2-0 loss to Vissel Kobe in the ACLE league stage after a lackluster performance, while Ulsan HD lost three matches against three J League clubs: Kawasaki Frontale, Yokahama F. Marinos and Kobe.

The Korean football factory

While the current system disrupts K League clubs' performance in the ACLE, it also jeopardizes their season strategy as sides lose players in the middle of the season, which coincides with the summer transfer window in Europe.

This was the case with Daejeon Hana Citizen, which lost Bae Jun-ho to Championship side Stoke City in May 2023 and Gwangju, which let Eom Ji-sung move to fellow Championship team Swansea City in July this year.

Such transfers compromise a team's season as star players are lured away in the middle of a campaign, but the deals are also essential for the survival of the clubs.

"There have been talks that the K League shouldn’t be a selling league, but I think the K League should allow for very efficient transfers,” Lee said. “I think it’s hard for the K League to have enough funds to support itself with money generated in Korea. Considering this, the two-year system will not only be useful in transfers, but also in other aspects.”

A future fraught with complications

From building new indoor facilities to devising a sound strategy to mitigate the impact of winter on attendance, a transition to the two-year system requires a great deal of adaptation for the K League.

A likely motivator in making the switch would be a precipitous fall in form against J League sides that will sidestep the issue with their season shift in two years, but a hasty decision imparts its own risks.

“The K League can come up with a plan after elaborately discussing infrastructure aspects or an effective way to make the schedule,” Lee said. “They should never be rash to make the change just because Japan is doing it. Even if the discussion takes over a year, I think it is necessary to discuss the matter.”

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]