The J-League Agrees to Change Season Schedule From 2026 and Beyond
- Chester Khangelani Mbekela
- Jan 3, 2024
- 2 min read
Picture Source: J-League.com
Published by Zila Mbekela
First of all, happy new year to everyone out there!! I trust that everyone had a wonderful time off and that all are looking forward to an amazing and productive 2024! Let's get it!
The J-league made a ground-breaking announcement just before New years Eve, as it was confirmed that from 2026 and onwards, the season will commence in August and run until the following year in May. This means that the J-League competitions will be on at the same time as the major European football competitions. The change in schedule will also suit the Asia Champions league which will also be running concurrently with the league competition in Japan.
Professional soccer in Japan will join other prominent sporting codes that commence around that time of the year as well. The pro basketball competition- the B-League, begins in September/October, while the rugby calendar kicks-off around November/ December (subject to when the Rugby World Cup takes place). It seems as though baseball will be the only major sport dominating the summer calendar. Countless meetings have been held about whether to change the soccer calendar from late February, to later on in the year. All 60 clubs across the J1, J2 and the J3 competitions were in attendance at the last meeting, and the majority were in support of the proposed season schedule re-shuffle.
According to the Japan Times, 52 of the clubs expressed a sense of satisfaction with regards to commencing the season later in the year. They were all in agreement about playing fewer games in the hot sun. Japan summers can be humid and uncomfortable at times, so one would understand why teams would want to begin the season when it starts to get a bit cooler. However, the other 8 teams that were in protest about the schedule change voiced their concerns over the winter period of December and January. The teams based in snowy regions expressed their lack of sufficient facilities at their stadiums- to cater for the extreme weather conditions. The J-League board is well aware of this and has offered to assist the teams by paying and amount of US$69 million towards their facilities' improvements, and making sure that the winter weather condition don't affect the scheduled fixtures. Canceled games due to weather conditions could cost the league a lot of money, hence they want to be well prepared for this adjustment.
One of the major benefits of the season schedule change is that player transfers between European clubs and Japanese clubs will run smoother and easier for both parties. Teams won't have to be concerned about players' match fitness and conditioning when the seasons are running parallel to each other.
More information will be provided as time goes by. The change is expected to occur for the 2026/2027 season.
Source:
The Japan Times