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| Members of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors celebrate their 2021 K League 1 championship. (Photo from K-oddyssey) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] SEOUL: The South Korean professional football will have its earliest start to a season in 2022 to accommodate participation in the FIFA World Cup in November, the league office announced Thursday. The 2022 K League 1 season will kick off Feb. 19, the fastest opening to a season by eight days. The 2010 and 2021 campaigns both began Feb. 27.
The dozen teams in the top flight will play 38 matches. They will first play each other three times and after 33 contests, the top six and the bottom six clubs will be split into Final A and Final B. Teams will then play five more matches within their own groups to finish the season. The K League said the first portion of the season will conclude on Sept. 18. The fixtures for the split phase of the season will be determined later, and the season will conclude before the start of the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 World Cup in Qatar. It will be the first World Cup to be played in the November-December period.
South Korea are currently playing in the final round of the Asian qualification for the World Cup. They are poised to grab one of two automatic berths out of Group A, along with Iran, with four matches to play.
