New Japanese Football Association president Junji Ogura is looking to usher in some changes in Japanese soccer. One of Ogura’s targets is to shift the J-League calendar from a spring-autumn season to an autumn-spring season to align with the European calendar. Ogura believes that this shift will ultimately lead to improved performances from Japanese players and ultimately the national side.
Changing to the European calender is not an uncommon topic to soccer fans in the United States. Playing through the winter and competing against other major American sports that are off in the summer are just two factors that lend to the current spring-autumn format. But aligning with other major leagues around the world, for one, makes it easier to participate in the global transfer market by making it more convenient for foreign players to join MLS during the European transfer windows, which at present do not align well with the MLS transfer window. Switching to a European calendar would also make it easier for MLS players to join European sides either by purchase or loan.
Ogura admits that a shift to the European calendar will take some planning. But as plans are developed, it will be interesting to watch the transition (if it happens) from an MLS perspective to further assess whether MLS should be looking to make a shift to the European calendar in the future.
