The foreign player quota in professional volleyball will increase to three from two starting in the 2027-2028 season.
The Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) held its sixth board meeting and an extraordinary general assembly at the federation's conference room in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, where it approved changes to the foreign player and Asian quota systems.
The core of the change is that the foreign-national player quota, currently two — one foreign player and one Asian quota slot — will increase to three from the 2027-2028 season.
The men's division will be able to use one additional foreign player, while the women's division will be able to use one additional Asian quota slot, and all three foreign-national players may be deployed in matches.
First, men's division clubs will be able to sign two foreign players plus one Asian quota player. However, the salaries of the two foreign players will be differentiated. The relatively more skilled player will receive $400,000 in the first year and $550,000 in the second year. The salary of the other foreign player has been sharply lowered to $150,000 in the first year and $170,000 in the second year.
The salary for the Asian quota, which is limited to players from Asian countries, has been raised from $120,000 in the first year and $150,000 in the second year to $150,000 in the first year and $170,000 in the second year, bringing it in line with the salary of the second foreign player.
The women's division Asian quota salary is the same, at $150,000 in the first year and $170,000 in the second year.
The federation's board also set a deadline allowing foreign players and Asian quota players to be replaced only through the fifth round starting from the 2026-2027 season. The intent is to quell fairness disputes by preventing teams that have secured a spot in the "spring volleyball" postseason from bringing in new foreign players to be used only in the postseason.
However, the federation left room for replacements after the sixth round if a player receives an injury diagnosis of eight weeks or more from a doctor recognized by the federation.
Following the expiration of Secretary General Shin Mu-cheol's term, the federation elected Eom Jae-yong (pictured), CEO of T-Cast, as the new secretary general for a three-year term effective July 1. It also appointed Kim Sang-woo, former head coach of Samsung Fire, as the successor to operations director Kim Se-jin, who moved to become head coach of the women's division SOOP club.
The SOOP club, which was re-established after acquiring Pepper Savings Bank, was confirmed to be named the SOOP SOOPers volleyball team.
