A competition where the developmentally disabled and the non-disabled become one, the 2025 K League PlayONE Cup will be held
Sep 26, 2025
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The 'K League PlayONE Cup' is an integrated soccer competition in which people with developmental disabilities and non-disabled people compete in a team. The goal is to understand each other through sports and to realize the value of social inclusion and equality for people with developmental disabilities. The tournament has been run as a 'Unified Football Cup' since 2021, but since this year, it has been reborn under the new name 'PlayONE Cup' and contains the meaning of the 'Unified Competition'.
A total of 12 teams, including 11 teams under the K-League club (Gyeongnam, Daegu, Daejeon, Busan, Bucheon, Seongnam, Ansan, Incheon, Jeonnam, Jeju and Pohang), and about 300 players will participate in the tournament. All participating teams will enter the accommodation on the 26th and complete player registration, before playing for two days on the 27th and 28th.
The competition will be held in a full league manner of A-C groups. The group formation was based on the results of last year's Unified Cup and International Cup, while Group A was composed of Gyeongnam, Busan, Jeju, Pohang, Group B was composed of Daegu, Seongnam, Bucheon, Incheon, and Group C was composed of Daejeon, Ansan, Federation, and Jeonnam.
All games are based on 11-man soccer, with 6 developmentally disabled players and 5 partner players participating together for each team, and each of the first and second half will be played for 20 minutes. The competition is operated only in the group stage, so you can enjoy it without any burden of winning or losing, and after all games are over, it will end with a closing ceremony and an award ceremony.
At the site of the competition, shooting challenge zones, sports taping and massage booths are operated so that participants can experience things to enjoy and recovery programs in addition to games.
In addition to this competition, Hana Financial Group held a K-League Korea-U.S. sports exchange program in New York in June. At that time, the team's K-League PlayONE squad engaged in international exchange activities, such as playing a friendly match with the New York Red Bulls and watching the Club World Cup game with the support of Hana Financial Group.
The federation plans to continue various competitions and events where athletes with developmental disabilities and non-disabled people can interact in cooperation with Hana Financial Group in the future.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.