Gwangju FC, which is being disciplined by FIFA for 'not being allowed to participate even if it is recruited,' has continued to be 'Official.'

*This content was translated by AI.

Gwangju FC in the K-League 1 continues to strengthen its power compared to the new season. After Oh Ha-jong (23) last month, he had veteran fullback Park Won-jae (32). However, players who have newly joined Gwangju cannot play in the first half of the K League. This is because the Gwangju club is being disciplined by FIFA.

The Gwangju club officially announced the recruitment of Park Won-jae on the 2nd. It is Gwangju's second external recruitment compared to the 2026 season, when head coach Lee Jung-hyo left for Suwon Samsung and made a fresh start under head coach Jungkyu Lee. Earlier on the 24th of last month, Gwangju first had winger Oh Ha-jong from Sunmoon University. Park Won-jae is a veteran who played for Jeju SK and Gyeongnam FC, and Oh Ha-jong is a rookie player who played as the mainstay of Sunmoon University last year.

However, Gwangju, which newly recruited them, cannot play them in the first half. This is the aftermath of being fined by FIFA in September last year and banned from registering players in the first half of 2026. Earlier, Gwangju was banned from registering players by FIFA for failing to transfer $3,000 (about 4.35 million won) in the process of recruiting foreign striker Asani.

As a result, Gwangju recruited about 10 players in the transfer market last winter without recognizing this even though it was banned from registering players. The Korea Football Association, which is in charge of registering domestic players, did not reconfirm the FIFA disciplinary letter to the Gwangju club, and proceeded with the registration of players of the Gwangju club under FIFA disciplinary action. In the end, FIFA imposed fines and other disciplinary measures on the Korea Football Association and Gwangju clubs, respectively. Gwangju clubs cannot register players until the first half of 2026.

Prior to this, the Gwangju club received a one-year ban from recruiting players from the Korea Professional Football Federation. Apart from the previous FIFA disciplinary action, it was a disciplinary action due to repeated violations of the club's fiscal consolidation regulations. Instead, the federation suspended the execution of the ban on recruiting players to the Gwangju club for three years. Sanctions will be immediately enforced only if the state of complete capital erosion is not resolved by fiscal year 2027 or if the financial improvement plan of the Federation's Finance Committee is not implemented.

As a result, the Gwangju club's ban on recruiting players by the Professional Football Federation is suspended, and FIFA's ban on player registration continues until the first half of this year. In the end, Park Won-jae and Oh Ha-jong, who joined the new team, can only be registered as Gwangju players during the additional player registration period this summer due to FIFA disciplinary action. Not only them, but also other players who will wear Gwangju uniforms in the transfer market this winter.

However, even if the newly recruited players are in a difficult situation to play in the first half of the year, the Gwangju team could not help but strengthen the winter transfer market, which is the most important in preparing for a season. In the end, it is necessary to catch the internal players as much as possible and find players who understand the club's situation and sign contracts. Players who joined Gwangju, including Park Won-jae, also chose to go to Gwangju despite the fatal conditions of having to blow the entire first half of the year. Regarding the new players, the club said, "We plan to prepare for actual use by focusing on improving the player's adaptation and understanding of tactics during the team's disciplinary period."

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*This content was translated by AI.