*This content was translated by AI.
Professional soccer K League 1 FC Seoul will hold a truly "tough three consecutive games" next month. The match against Ulsan HD has been newly organized between Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daejeon Hana Citizen, who are considered "championship candidates."
The Korea Professional Football Federation announced on the 13th that it will hold the second round of Hana Bank K League 1 2026 between Ulsan and Seoul at 7:30 p.m. on the 15th of next month at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.
Initially, the two teams were scheduled to face off at the same place at 2 p.m. on the 7th, but the game was postponed as Seoul advanced to the round of 16 in the 2025-2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE).
As the first and second rounds of Seoul's ACLE round of 16 were held on the 4th and 11th, respectively, Seoul eventually requested the postponement of the match against Ulsan, which was scheduled for the 7th. The second round between Pohang Steelers and Gangwon FC was also postponed for the same reason.
The change in the K-League game schedule due to the ACLE game schedule is also included in the regulations of the Korean Professional Football Federation.
According to Article 24 of the Federation's game regulations, the game schedule can be adjusted ex officio to support clubs participating in international competitions such as the AFC Champions League. Earlier, the guidelines on the game schedule distributed by the federation to each club also stated, "If the top-ranked team wishes, the schedule can be changed regardless of the intention of the eliminated team, even if it is the home game of the eliminated team."
However, it took more than two weeks to confirm the postponed match schedule between Ulsan and Seoul. This is because it has rarely been able to reach an agreement between the clubs over the postponed game schedule. As the federation announced the postponement of the K-League game according to the ACLE schedule on the 27th of last month, unlike the Pohang-Gangwon match, the Ulsan-Seoul match was "undetermined."
The federation was basically going to review the schedule derived through 'consultation' between the two clubs first. Pohang and Gangwon reached an agreement early on to hold the A match on the 28th. However, the difference between Seoul and Ulsan was clear. Seoul also wanted to host the A-match period, which is less burdensome due to the post-war schedule, while Ulsan expressed reluctance due to the power leakage caused by the transfer of the national team.
In the process, Seoul requested to hold the A-match period based on the federation's "guidelines" previously announced to each club. The federation's guidelines said, "This season, many rounds are scheduled during the week due to the World Cup, and due to this, the weekly schedule to accommodate rescheduled games is limited," adding, "We recommend using the weekend during the A-match period when discussing between the two teams." He also added, "If the conclusion is not reached through club consultation, the federation will decide the date and time of the game ex officio, but the schedule can be adjusted to the A-match period even when the federation is ex officio."
On the contrary, for Ulsan, it was a burden to play during the A-match period, when national team-level resources such as Cho Hyun-woo and Lee Dong-kyung are likely to be recruited to the national team. As the game was postponed due to the ACLE schedule of the opposing team, Seoul, there was no reason to play at the risk of damage. This was why Seoul expressed its reluctance to hold the A-match period, which Seoul wanted during the consultation process.
When no agreement was reached between the clubs, the ball eventually went to the federation. From the beginning of this season's K-League schedule, the federation prepared for the possibility of postponement by allocating four teams participating in the ACL to face off in the second round. It was on the 19th of last month that Seoul and Gangwon were confirmed to advance to the round of 16 ACLE. However, the federation rarely made decisions ex officio even in the absence of consultations between clubs, and eventually announced the hosting of the event on April 15th only on the 13th.
From the perspective of the Seoul team, the decision to deviate from the federation's guidelines, which includes recommendations for the use of weekends during the A-match period in consideration of the specificity of the year in which the World Cup is held, and that the federation can be adjusted to the A-match period ex officio, will inevitably leave a big regret. Just as Ulsan expressed reluctance to host the A-match period, Seoul's mid-week game next month was also burdensome, but now Seoul has to handle the burdensome schedule.
In fact, as the match against Ulsan has been confirmed on the 15th of next month, Seoul will inevitably face Jeonbuk (home) on the 11th, Ulsan (away) on the 15th, and Daejeon (home) on the 18th. Even the week round is scheduled for the next week, so Seoul has to play the week round for two consecutive weeks. It has become a situation where they have to play as many as five games in 15 days.
Ulsan also avoided facing Seoul during the A-match period, but has to face off against Incheon (Wonjeong) on the 11th, Seoul (home) on the 15th, and Gwangju (home) on the 19th. However, unlike Seoul, which leads to the opponent team's match and home-away-home, Ulsan's schedule, which leads to away-home-home, is better than Seoul. The federation accepted Ulsan's demand under the principle that no team should suffer damage, but the game schedule, which has been postponed to next month, is now more burdensome for Seoul.
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*This content was translated by AI.
