The K-League have confirmed that military club Sangmu will compete in the 2011 K-League season after the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps came to an agreement with local officials to base the side in the city of Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province.
The foundation of the citizen club Gwangju FC in their previous Gwangju base meant that the military side was forced to seek a new home venue for the coming season and after a long and exhaustive search the club, which had been in danger of dropping out of the K-League for 2011, have agreed a deal which will allow them to compete for the next few years. Their participation in the top division will be reviewed by 2013 when it is anticipated a system of promotion and relegation will be put in place to satisfy AFC Champions League entry criteria as stipulated by the Asian Football Confederation.
With Sangju Sangmu’s participation confirmed, the 2011 K-League season will feature sixteen sides playing each other twice for a total of thirty matches per team. The regular league season will kick off on March 5th and run to October 30th with the top six playoffs running from November 19th to December 4th. The K-League Cup competition will be split into two groups of six sides with the top two teams from each group joining the four AFC Champions League participants FC Seoul, Jeju United, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the quarter-final knockout stage.
