An integrated football tournament in which players with developmental disabilities and players without disabilities compete on the same teams is opening again this year.
K League Assist Foundation said on the 15th that it will host the 2026 K League PlayONE CUP from the 16th to the 18th, over three days and two nights, at the Jecheon Football Center in North Chungcheong Province.
Launched in 2021, the PlayONE CUP was created to improve public awareness of people with developmental disabilities through sport and to spread the values of inclusion and equality. In its sixth year, the event has drawn its largest field of participants to date. Hana Financial Group, the Community Chest of Korea, the city of Jecheon, Lingti and Dongwon Saemul are sponsoring the tournament.
A total of 14 teams and about 350 players are taking part, including 13 teams affiliated with K League clubs — South Gyeongsang Province, Gimcheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Seongnam, Anyang, Ulsan, Jeonnam, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Cheonan, North Chungcheong Province Cheongju, Paju and Pohang — along with a team from the Korea Professional Football League. Six of them, Gimcheon, Anyang, Ulsan, Cheonan, North Chungcheong Province Cheongju and Paju, are competing for the first time this year.
The tournament will be played as a round-robin across three groups, A through C, with no knockout stage. Groups were drawn based on last year's results together with an assessment of the new teams' strength. Group A features South Gyeongsang Province, Seongnam, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, North Chungcheong Province Cheongju and Pohang; Group B features Daegu, Ulsan, Jeonnam, Cheonan and Paju; and Group C features Gimcheon, Daejeon, Anyang and the league team.
Matches are 11-a-side, with each team required to field six players with developmental disabilities and five players without disabilities at the same time. Games run 20 minutes per half. The closing and awards ceremonies will be held on the final day, after all group-stage matches are completed.