The nation’s first-division football league has postponed discussions for a promotion-relegation system until next year as the league’s have-nots opposed the idea, officials said Tuesday.

The K-League board of directors on Tuesday failed to reach a conclusion on adopting promotion-relegation starting in 2013 and will try to do so in January, officials said. Under the league proposal, 12 of K-League’s 16 teams at the end of each season will stay in the first division, while the four worst teams will be relegated to the second division and replaced by the top clubs from the second-tier competition.

Six community-owned teams opposed the idea, saying the league is only catering to richer clubs with corporate ownership and isn’t offering viable alternatives.

Those half-dozen teams are Incheon United, Gyeongnam FC, Gwangju FC, Daejeon Citizen, Gangwon FC and Daegu FC.

These teams typically don’t have the financial wherewithal to sign star players and they struggle to stay competitive on a regular basis. If such teams are relegated to the lower division, they will take a big hit to their ticket sales and television rights, among other revenue sources. 

(Yonhap News)