WK League News

The Korea Football Association (KFA) has submitted a bid to host the semifinals and final of the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League, set to take place in May. 2024 WK League champions Suwon FC must progress to the semifinals for the bid to be considered.

Read more: Suwon FC to face defending champions Wuhan Jiangda in AWCL quarter final

The current competition is the second edition of the AWCL. Following the group stage, held in three locations across the region, the knockout stage begins with one-legged quarter-finals hosted by each of the group winners (and the best-performing second-placed team) in March. The semi-final and final take place in a centralised location. Last year the closing stages of the tournament were held in Wuhan, where Wuhan Jiangda won a dramatic penalty shootout to lift the trophy in front of their home fans.

Announcing its AWCL bid amid pressure to improve conditions for the national team, the KFA stated that hosting the final stages of the continental competition will help to “vitalise women’s football and make the WK League more competitive internationally”. This year will also see the KFA launch the W Korea Cup.

Read more: Ji Soyun reinforces national team boycott threat

Korea previously hosted the inaugural edition of the AFC Women’s Club Championship, which functioned as a pilot competition for the AWCL, in 2019. Tokyo Verdy Beleza won the 2019 tournament, which also saw Jiangsu Suning, Melbourne Victory, and the WK League’s own Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels competing in a round-robin league format in Yongin.