Football in Kenya

The Kenyan football league system is a series of several interconnected leagues for football clubs in Kenya.

The top level league is the Premier League and below it is Division One, which is divided into two zones for the Eastern and Western halves of Kenya, which are further divided into two groups from various regions in Eastern and Western Kenya. Below that is the Provincial League, divided into provincial divisions based on the Provinces of Kenya (except for North Eastern, some of which are further divided into a number of zones. Below that is the County League and the bottom level District League. Inwomen's football, there is the Premier League as the top tier league, above Division One.

In November 2012, the Football Kenya Federation began talks to create Division Two, which, if approved, will go above the Provincial League as the third tier. The proposal says that the league will be made of 16 teams; the four relegated teams from both zones of Division One and one team from each of the eight provincial leagues. The 16 teams will be divided into two zones of eight teams each on the same basis as Division One in terms of locations of teams in the zones. The winners from each zone would be promoted to their respective zones in Division One, e.g. the winner from Zone A in Division Two would be promoted to Zone A in Division One.

On 25 April 2013, the Football Kenya Federation decided to slash the league to 20 teams for the 2014 season. For that to happen, it was decided that the league will consist of top 5 teams in each zone (except the two teams that win the promotion play-offs) in addition to the two relegated Premier League teams. The remaining 29 teams will be relegated to FKF Division Two, which will begin next season, along with the 8 teams promoted from the Provincial League

Level

League/Division(s)

1

Premier League

Premier League 16 clubs

2

Division One Zone A

Group 1 12 clubs

Group 2 12 clubs

Division One Zone B

Group 1 12 clubs

Group 2 12 clubs

3

Provincial League Western Zone

Rift Valley – Zone A 14 clubs

Western – Zone A 20 clubs

North Nyanza 14 clubs

West Nyanza – Zone A 8 clubs

West Nyanza – Zone B 8 clubs

Rift Valley – Zone B 14 clubs

Western – Zone B 20 clubs

South Nyanza 20 clubs

Provincial League Eastern Zone

Nairobi – Zone A 19 clubs

North Coast 17 clubs

South Coast – Zone A 21 clubs

Central 23 clubs

Upper Eastern 16 clubs

Nairobi – Zone B 19 clubs

South Coast – Zone B 21 clubs

Lower Eastern Unknown

4

County League

See Counties of Kenya.

5

District League

See Districts of Kenya.

Football in Pakistan

The Pakistan football league system is the national football competition in Pakistan. It is organized by the Pakistan Football Federation and consists of 4 levels. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and allows even the smallest club to dream of rising to the very top of the system.

Level	League(s)/Division(s)
1	Pakistan Premier League A Division - 16 clubs
2	Pakistan Football Federation League B Division - 12 clubs
3	National Club Championship C Division - various clubs
4	District Football League D Division - various clubs (8 provincial leagues)

Football in South Korea

The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, a semi-professional league and a amateur league for Korean football clubs.

The highest level of football in South Korea is the K League Classic which was founded in 1983. K League Challenge was founded in 2013 and is currently a second division. Below the level of the professional leagues is the semi-professional National League, which serves as the third division. the amateur Challengers League which is being considered the fourth division was added to the setup in 2007.

National League and Challengers League is called the third division and the fourth division for convenience, but they are the respectively disrelated and individual league.

There was no avenue for progression between any of the leagues until 2012, but it has been implemented after K League Challenge was founded.

The K League was created in 1983 and remained the only officially organized league competition in the country until the creation of the National League in 2003. The Challengers League was created in 2007 to give the structure as it exists today. For each division, its official name, sponsored name and number of clubs is given:

* As of 2013 season

Level	League / Division
1	K League Classic (Hyundai Oilbank K League Classic) 14 clubs
2	K League Challenge (Hyundai Oilbank K League Challenge) 8 clubs
3 (unofficial)	Korea National League (Shinhan Bank National League) 10 clubs
4 (unofficial)	Challengers League (Daum Challengers League) 18 clubs

Below this league structure there are many amateur, university and youth level competitions at varying levels. From 2008, the U-League, a league competition for university football clubs, will begin though it is likely to remain completely independent from the league structure above.

Football in iran

Football in iran

The current structure has been in place since 2001. The Iran Premier League (IPL) is the highest level of club football in Iran. It is also called the Persian Gulf Cup. Below it is the Azadegan League, also known as the 1st division, which consists of two twelve-team groups. One level further down from that is the 2nd division which is made up of 28 teams evenly distributed into two groups. One step down, and the final nation-wide league, is the 3rd division. This level has eight groups and 45 teams. Each groups contains teams that are located in the same area of the nation. The final level of the football system consists of 28 provincialleagues. Local teams from each province participate in these leagues, and some of the leagues are divided into further divisions.

The system works with a promotion-relegation system, meaning that a team from the lowest level of the system can make it to the top level after a number of years. The number of teams in each league often changes from season to season, due to the lack of any professional management in the lower levels of the system. Currently the IPL is the only league that is considered professional, despite many of its rules about club facilities and management being broken. It is not uncommon for teams in the lower levels of the system to change team names because of sponsorship issues or for teams to completely withdraw from a competition.

The top four levels of the system are managed by the Iranian football federation, while the bottom level leagues are managed by their respective provincial football committee.

Current system

Level	League/Division(s)
1	Iran Pro League (Persian Gulf Cup) 16 clubs
2	Azadegan League Group 1 1st Division Group 1 14 clubs			Azadegan League Group 2 1st Division Group 2 14 clubs
3	2nd Division Group 1 14 clubs			2nd Division Group 2 14 clubs
4	3rd Division Group 1 8 clubs	3rd Division Group 2 8 clubs	3rd Division Group 3 8 clubs	3rd Division Group 4 8 clubs	3rd Division Group 5 8 clubs	3rd Division Group 6 8 clubs
5	Provincial Leagues Alborz Province League, Ardabil Province League, Bushehr Province League, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province League, East Azarbaijan Province League, Esfahan Province League, Fars Province League, Gilan Province League, Golestan Province League, Hamadan Province League, Hormozgan Province League, Ilam Province League, Kerman Province League, Kermanshah Province League, Khuzestan Province League, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province League, Kordestan Province League, Lorestan Province League, Markazi Province League, Mazandaran Province League, North Khorasan Province League, Qazvin Province League, Qom Province League, Razavi Khorasan Province League, Semnan Province League, Sistan and Baluchestan Province League, South Khorasan Province League, Tehran Province League, West Azarbaijan Province League, Yazd Province League, Zanjan Province League (league organized by provincial committees)

Football in Hong kong

Football in Hong kong

Tracing back to early 20th century, the football league in Hong Kong is probably the oldest professional league in Asia. While most records before the Second World War have been lost and the current Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) only recognises the match results since its establishment in 1945. Hence, not many people can remember the old glory of Hong Kong's professional football.

All the leagues are organised by the HKFA.

Level	League(s)/Division(s)
1	Hong Kong First Division League 12 clubs
2	Hong Kong Second Division League 12 clubs
3	Hong Kong Third Division League 14 clubs
4	Hong Kong Fourth Division League 11 clubs

Football in China

Football in China consists of Association football as well as the China national football team. Football has been one of the most well supported sports in China, since it was introduced in the early 1900s. Ancient Chinese football was called "Cuju". The national governing body is the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Hong Kong and Macau have separate leagues.

According to FIFA ranking on 14th Feb., 2013,the Men's National Team is ranked 96^thin the world, and Women's National Team is ranked 17th.

Chinese football league system

Level	League
1	Chinese Super League 16 clubs ↓relegate 2 teams
2	China League One 16 clubs ↑promote 2 teams, ↓relegate 2 teams
3	China League Two 26 clubs, playing in two groups - 13 in Northern group and 13 in Southern group (2012 season) ↑promote 2 teams, no relegation
4	China Amateur Football League League Three includes 44 regional leagues. Most regional leagues have 2 divisions and some regionals have more than 2. Each regional league has at least 12 clubs at top level. Winners of each regional enter the national stage which plays in 2 (northern & southern) or 4 (northern, southern, western & eastern) groups. Top-8 clubs qualify for finals.