K League 2 'historic playoffs' set to unfold: A war for 'promotion,' not just the promotion-relegation playoff

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The schedule for the playoffs (PO) involving teams ranked 3rd through 6th in the K League 2 regular season has been finalized. This is truly a "historic PO," where the stakes are direct promotion to K League 1, rather than competing for a spot in the promotion-relegation playoff.

The Korea Professional Football League announced the schedule for the K League 2 semi-playoffs and playoffs on the 27th. The semi-playoffs, in which the 3rd- and 6th-place teams face off against each other, as do the 4th- and 5th-place teams, will be held at 7 p.m. on December 2. These matches will be single-leg games played at the home ground of the team with the higher regular-season ranking. The K League 2 playoffs, featuring the winners of the semi-playoffs, will take place three days later, on the 5th, at 4:30 p.m.

The key difference from past K League 2 playoffs is that the final surviving team will achieve "K League 1 promotion" rather than entering the promotion-relegation playoff. For instance, last year, the ultimate winner of the K League 2 playoffs had to go through another round of promotion-relegation playoffs against the 10th-place team in K League 1 before their promotion was decided. Even if a team survived the K League 2 playoffs, they could not be promoted unless they cleared the hurdle of the promotion-relegation playoff against a K League 1 team.

However, this year is different. The one team that survives the K League 2 playoffs among those ranked 3rd through 6th in the regular season will be promoted without having to go through a promotion-relegation playoff. This is due to the ongoing restructuring process where K League 1 will expand from 12 teams to 14, and K League 2 will shrink from 17 teams to 15 for the next season. In the same vein, not only the K League 2 champion but also the runner-up will earn direct promotion. On top of that, the ultimate winner of the K League 2 playoffs will also be promoted. In exchange, the team dropping out of K League 1 will be Gimcheon Sangmu, whose home ground agreement with Gimcheon City ends at the conclusion of this year.

Instead, changes to the playoff format will depend on whether Gimcheon finishes at the bottom of K League 1. If Gimcheon ends the season in last place, the K League 2 playoffs will be conducted on a home-and-away basis, with only the ultimate winner being promoted. Conversely, if Gimcheon does not finish in last place, the K League 2 playoffs will be a single-leg match, and the winner will be promoted. In that scenario, the losing team of the K League 2 playoffs will also have the opportunity to determine their promotion status by facing the bottom-ranked K League 1 team in a promotion-relegation playoff. However, Gimcheon currently has 34 points, leading Gwangju FC (21 points), who is at the bottom of K League 1, by a significant margin of 13 points. Therefore, the possibility of Gimcheon falling to last place is slim. As things stand, it is highly likely that the winner of the K League 2 playoffs will be promoted, and the losing team will also have the chance to compete in a promotion-relegation playoff.

Since promotion is still possible even after going through the K League 2 playoffs, competition among the top teams in K League 2 is truly fierce. While Suwon Samsung Bluewings are charging ahead as the sole leader with 62 points, teams such as Suwon FC and Seoul E-Land (both with 54 points) and Daegu FC (52 points) are competing for the second-place spot, which also carries a "direct promotion" berth. Trailing behind them are 5th-place Busan IPark (48 points) and 6th-place Hwaseong FC (45 points). With each team having three to four matches remaining, teams like 7th-place Chungnam Asan (39 points) and 8th-place Gimpo FC (38 points) are also staking everything on securing a top-six finish that guarantees a spot in the K League 2 playoffs.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original