Recently, the Japanese sports newspaper disclosed a heavy news: the Japanese J-League plans to form a "reform promotion support group" in April. The core members of the group will be handpicked by J-League director Masaaki Kimura.
The "Reform Promotion Support Group" is expected to come up with a new concept for the reform of the Japanese professional leagues. The plan is to think outside the box and consider the future of the league and its clubs from all angles. The core of the plan will be to create a new super league based on the J1 League, drawing on the successful model of the English Premier League.
This "Japanese Super League" will have 10 to 14 teams and will remove restrictions on foreign aid. Currently, the J-League has no limit on the number of foreign aiders who can register, but there is a limit on the number of players who can play. In the J1 league, the maximum number of foreign aiders on the match list is five; in the J2 and J3 leagues, it is four. In addition, players from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar, which cooperate with the J-League, are not counted as foreign aiders.
The reform plan also includes a restructuring of the J-League broadcasting rights. Returning the sale of broadcasting rights to the clubs, the media broadcasting rights for all levels of the Japanese league are currently in the hands of the J-League officials, who sell them in packages and then distribute the revenues to the clubs. Currently, J1 clubs get an annual share of 350 million yen in broadcasting fees, J2 clubs 150 million yen and J3 clubs 30 million yen. Notably, sources close to the matter revealed that the reform plan also mentions that access to the J1 league will be relaxed.
