J. League and La Liga have signed an agreement to extend their strategic partnership for another three years.
It was originally signed in 2017 and the extension will see it continue from July 2020 until June 2023.
The memorandum of understanding between the leagues has seen institutional visits from league representatives and the sharing of industry expertise. The Meiji Yasuda J. League World Challenge was also held in July 2017 between Kashima Antlers and Sevilla FC.
The leagues said that going into the future they will looking to go further with their digital actions.
Collaboration will also transpire in other areas such as eSports and audio-visual piracy. Seminars and workshops will be held on areas such as governance, management and finance.
Another key area of the partnership is working on social responsibility and cooperation to carry out communications to deter racism, violence and discrimination.
Exchanges of coaches and youth players are also expected to occur.
“Our MOU with the J. League was the first that La Liga signed in Asia and we are delighted to continue growing with them. Spain and Japan are countries with a long history of friendship and exchanges, and football, as an important part of both cultures, has an important role to play in continuing this relationship,” President of La Liga, Javier Tebas said about the partnership.
J. League also clarified that players of the same nationality as a partner league do not count as foreign players. However, this regulation does not apply to strategic partner leagues, so players with a Spanish nationality will be unable to use this regulation.
“We are very pleased to continue our strategic partnership with La Liga to continue to deepen our exchanges and challenge our issues. While the world is in midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, we will strive to strengthen our partnership and make our way to go through this difficult situation together,” J. League Chairman, Mitsuru Murai said in statement.
Meanwhile, a J2 League match between Omiya Ardija and Avispa Fukuoka has been cancelled following a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Avispa Fukuoka.
