The Korea Professional Football Federation (President Kwon Oh-gap, hereinafter referred to as 'the federation') held its third board meeting for 2025 on Thursday, the 19th, at the Football Center in central Seoul, where it passed several agendas, including ▲allowing foreign goalkeepers starting in 2026, ▲increasing the roster size for K League 2, ▲including homegrown players as eligible for the Young Player Award, ▲appointing new directors, and ▲re-examining the disciplinary committee's results for FC Anyang.

Foreign goalkeepers can be registered starting in 2026.

Starting in 2026, the registration of foreign goalkeepers will be permitted. In the mid-1990s, when the K League operated with eight teams, the majority of clubs used foreign goalkeepers as starters, prompting the league to gradually limit the number of matches that foreign goalkeepers could play starting in 1996. By 1999, the registration of foreign goalkeepers was completely banned.

The board stated that it considered the excessively high salary increase rates for domestic players compared to field players due to the restrictions on registering foreign players in the special position of goalkeeper. It also noted that the number of clubs has significantly increased since the restrictions on foreign goalkeepers were introduced and that allowing foreign goalkeepers would still provide sufficient playing opportunities for domestic goalkeepers. Therefore, starting in 2026, the provision in the K League competition rules requiring goalkeepers to be domestic players will be removed, and this will apply to both K League 1 and K League 2.

The K League 2 roster will be expanded to 20 players starting in 2026.

Starting in 2026, the K League 2 roster will be expanded from the existing 18 players to a maximum of 20. K League 1 has already been operating with a roster of 20 players since the 2024 season. Currently, K League 2 follows a principle of having a total of 18 members, which includes 11 starters and 7 substitutes, but this will increase to 11 starters and 9 substitutes.

The board noted that it is necessary to guarantee domestic players' opportunities to play, considering that diversifying substitute cards will enhance game performance and that as the AFC and ASEAN quotas are abolished, the number of foreign players can increase without nationality restrictions.

Homegrown players will be added to the eligibility for the Young Player Award.

It was decided to add 'homegrown players' to the eligibility for the Young Player Award, which was previously restricted to players with Korean nationality under the age of 23. The board stated that homegrown players nurtured in domestic football and granted the same status as Korean players through rookie contracts with K League clubs should also be eligible for the Young Player Award on par with Korean players.

Appointment of new directors.

Kim Seung-hee, the executive director of the Korea Football Association, and Kwon Il, the Director General of Gimpo FC, were elected as new directors of the federation.

Re-examination of the disciplinary committee's results for FC Anyang.

The disciplinary penalty of 10 million won imposed on FC Anyang was upheld as the request for re-examination by the Anyang club was rejected. The owner of the Anyang club, Mayor Choi Dae-ho, held a public press conference in the media room at Anyang Sports Complex on Tuesday, the 20th of last month, where he made negative comments about referee decisions and engaged in acts of defamation against the K League, damaging its reputation.

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