Jeonbuk, Daejeon, Pohang, Gangwon, and Seoul head to the Asian stage... '2026–2027 AFC License' obtained

*This content was translated by AI.

Five teams representing the K League will compete on the Asian stage.

The Korea Professional Football League announced on the 19th that it held the Club Eligibility Review Committee to deliberate on whether to issue AFC licenses to K League clubs that secured participation rights for the 2026–2027 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) and AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2) on the 18th. The committee approved the issuance of AFC licenses to the five clubs following its review.

At this meeting, the Club Eligibility Review Committee evaluated whether a total of five clubs—Jeonbuk, the 2025 K League 1 champion, along with Daejeon, Pohang, Gangwon, and Seoul, which secured AFC club tournament participation rights based on their domestic performance in the previous season—met the criteria under the AFC Club Licensing Regulations.

The AFC license issuance criteria consist of seven areas: sports, facilities, personnel and administration, legal affairs, finance, marketing and sales, and social responsibility. All criteria set by the AFC and the league must be met. As a result, all five teams received AFC license approval.

Jeonbuk, Daejeon, Pohang, and Gangwon will participate in the 2026–2027 ACLE. Seoul is scheduled to compete in ACL2. The five teams representing the K League will compete in AFC club tournaments.

Previously, Jeonbuk won both the 2025 K League 1 and the Korea Cup. That year, Daejeon finished second in K League 1, and Pohang finished fourth. The third-place team, Kim Cheon (SVP), was excluded from AFC club licensing due to its status as a military team, and the participation rights were passed to the next-ranked team. As a result, fifth-place Gangwon will compete in the ACLE playoffs instead of ACL2. ACL2 went to sixth-place FC Seoul.

Meanwhile, the league operates 'K League License' for participation eligibility in the K League and 'AFC License' for participation eligibility in AFC club tournaments separately.

The league stated that the K League License Club Eligibility Review Committee, which will review participation eligibility for the 2027 K League season, is scheduled to convene in October.

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*This content was translated by AI.