K League coach calls for relaxation of foreign aid quota restrictions and increase competitiveness in the AFC Champions League

On Thursday, four K League coaches who are about to participate in Asian club events have called for changes in rules to allow more foreign players to participate in intercontinental events.

At the end of September, Ulsan Hyundai, Gangwon FC and Seoul FC will participate in the AFC Elite League, and Posco Iron and Steel will participate in the AFC II League.

Currently, K League clubs can register up to 6 foreign players, but can only send up to 4 people. Other Asian teams have more foreign players. For example, Johor in Malaysia has registered more than a dozen foreign players, from Spain, England, Brazil, France and Argentina. Such differences could damage the competitiveness of K League teams, the coaches said in a press conference this Thursday.

"I think if we want to make achievements in the AFC Champions League, we must relax the number of foreign players," said Ulsan Hyundai coach Shin Tailong. "A team like Johor can have a set of foreign players starting a set of foreign players, and the Saudi team has a separate foreign player lineup for the AFC event. We only have 4 foreign players."

"I understand why there are such restrictions in the domestic league," Shin Tailong continued. "But we must consider relaxing restrictions for the AFC Champions League."

Seoul FC coach Kim Ki-dong agreed.

"In the past, we thought that Southeast Asian teams were at a lower level than K-League teams," he said. "But some rich clubs can send 9 to 10 foreign players at the same time, making it difficult for us to beat them. This is why we hear the statement that the K League teams are not as competitive as before."

Pohang coach Park Tae-ha said that he had closely watched this situation during his tenure as the technical director of the K League in 2021-23.

"This is a pretty sensitive issue," he said. "To be honest, I think it is difficult to become bigger and stronger in the K-League according to the current model. This problem must be solved at some point, but it is difficult to do it at present."

Gangwon FC coach Zheng Jinghao is cautious about this.

"This is our first time participating in the AFC Champions League. Before commenting, we must first see how we perform when facing other Asian teams," said Zheng Jinghao. "I want to see how foreign players from these teams perform against us." The four coaches all think that the first game is crucial.

"We want to win the first victory as soon as possible," said Zheng Jinghao. "If we can start winning early, we can seize this momentum and achieve good results in the remaining games."

Kim Ki-dong said he will rely on the captain of the team, former Manchester United star Lingard, to take on the heavy responsibility.

"He has played for England and Premier League teams, but this will be his first AFC Champions League trip," said Kim Ki-dong. "I know he is looking forward to doing his best for this event." From September to February next year, three AFC teams in South Korea will play league-stage matches with teams from Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia, and will not meet each other. The second-tier AFC Champions League adopts a more traditional competition system, with 32 teams divided into 8 groups, 4 groups in East Asia and West Asia each, and the top two in the group advance to the knockout round. Posco Iron is in Group H with Pathon United in Thailand, Ilokaya in the Philippines and Tampines Wanderers in Singapore. Their competition will be held from September to December. Last season, only one Korean team advanced to the knockout stage in both competitions, namely Gwangju and Jeonbuk Hyundai.