Let go of goalkeeper competition! Official: From 2026, the Korean K League will allow the introduction of foreign goalkeepers

June 20th, the Korean K League officially announced that it had passed a number of issues at the 3rd Council on the 19th, including the introduction of foreign goalkeepers from 2026.

The official statement pointed out that in the mid-1990s, there were only 8 teams in the K League, and most teams used foreign goalkeepers as the starter. Therefore, in order to train local Korean goalkeepers, foreign goalkeepers were gradually restricted in the K League since 1996, and began to completely ban foreign goalkeepers from registering in 1999.

Now, considering that the foreign goalkeeper restriction order has generally been too high compared to those of outfield players, and the number of clubs has increased significantly compared to when the foreign goalkeeper restriction order was introduced, so even if foreign goalkeeper restriction order is introduced, the Korean local goalkeeper can get enough opportunities to play. Therefore, the foreign goalkeeper restriction order applicable to the K1 and K2 leagues will be deleted from 2026.