K League to postpone matches for extreme heat during 2025 season

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K League to postpone matches for extreme heat during 2025 season

Fans watch the K League 1 match between FC Seoul and Incheon United at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on March 10, 2024. [NEWS1]

Fans watch the K League 1 match between FC Seoul and Incheon United at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on March 10, 2024. [NEWS1]

 
K League matches will be postponed or canceled due to extreme heat starting in the 2025 season, following a rule change approved by the league board on Monday. 
 

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The one-year K League season includes fixtures during June, July and August, exposing players and spectators to temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
 
The notorious heat and humidity in Korea even caused one fan to collapse during a game between FC Seoul and Jeju United — now Jeju SK — in Jeju last July.  
 
English midfielder Jesse Lingard, who joined FC Seoul in February before the 2024 season, said during the talk show "You Quiz on the Block" last year that the humidity was a significant challenge and joked that he nearly "died" while playing an away match against Jeju.
 
Converting to a two-year format has been suggested as a way to avoid the summer heat, but that presents its own challenges as cold winter conditions may deter fans from attending matches, potentially leading to a decline in attendance.  
 
During a conference held at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in central Seoul on Nov. 13, multiple K League club administrators expressed support for the two-year format.  
 
The K League has yet to publicly confirm whether it will adopt such a change, though it told the Korea JoongAng Daily in October last year that it is open to "various possibilities."
 
The K League board’s latest rule change comes just before the 2025 season kicks off in two weeks. K League 1 will begin on Feb. 15, followed by K League 2 on Feb. 22.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
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