K리그 U-22 의무출전 규정이 리그에 미친 영향

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the impact of the newly introduced U-22 player mandatory participation regulations in the Korean professional football league(K-League). The 2021 season, which allowed up to five substitutes depending on the number of U-22 players, and the 2019 and 2022 seasons before and after that, were selected as the subjects of the study (the 2020 season was excluded due to the influence of COVID-19). 594 matches were selected for the study, excluding the upper and lower split matches (n=90) among all three seasons (n=684). The variables included the number of U-22 players' appearances, starting appearances, over 45 minutes, playing time, the season, the team, the results and the team's final ranking. The number of U-22 players' appearances, starting, over 45 minutes and playing time increased significantly every season, In the 2019 and 2021 seasons, U-22 player appearances did not affect the outcome of the game, but in the 2022 season games, the losing teams played more U-22 players than the winning teams. In the 2019 season, the higher the team ranking, the more opportunities for U-22 players to play, but in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the higher the team ranking, the less opportunities for U-22 players to play. After the introduction of the new system, more U-22 players participated and the system had a positive impact, but at the same time, various side effects such as equity problems between players, deformed replacement, damage to the college league, and damage to veteran players occurred. This study is meaningful in that it provides basic data on the impact of the introduction of a new system on the league. In future studies, it is believed that discussions are needed to improve the side effects derived from the system.