Controversy over unpaid wages, all 26 K-League teams, including Asan, Chungnam, acquire K-League 1 licenses in 2026
Oct 24, 2025
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In a meeting on the 22nd, the Korea Professional Football Federation's Club Qualification Review Committee approved the issuance of 26 clubs that applied for the '2026 K League 1 License'. The Club Qualification Review Committee is an independent organization that deliberates on the issuance of K-League club licenses and evaluates whether it meets the criteria under the K-League Club Licensing Regulations based on documents submitted by the club and on-site inspection results every year and decides whether to issue licenses. The criteria for issuing K-League licenses consist of a total of seven areas: sports, facilities, personnel and administration, legal affairs, finance, marketing and sales, and social responsibility'.
At the meeting held on the 22nd, the license review was conducted based on documents submitted by each club. In particular, Chungnam Asan FC, which recently experienced arrears of players' wages due to financial difficulties, approved the issuance of licenses after comprehensively reviewing the report submitted by the club and future financial statements. However, if the issue of overdue wages is not resolved within this year, it has decided to reconsider whether to cancel the issuance of the license. As a result of this, all K-League clubs will acquire the 「2026 K-League 1 License」. The team participating in the K League 1 in 2026 will be determined by the final performance of the league this season.
Meanwhile, at the meeting, the committee reviewed some of the K League 2 club licensing standards in preparation for the introduction of the K League 2?K3 League promotion system, which is scheduled to take effect next year. Discussions were also held on ways to strengthen standards for stadium and training site facilities.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
