The FA of Thailand (FAT) have officially announced the Roadmap for the new Thai League, starting in 2017.
The FAT Executive Committee has revealed new logos, leagues’ names, and opened up the ASEAN player quota. They have also increased revenue distribution to each team.
From next season onwards, under Thai League Co., Ltd., Thai football will have five leagues in their pyramid with the Thai League (T1) being at the top.
Thai League (T1) will have 18 teams. (The 1st – 15th ranked in Thai League 2016 will be joined by the top three teams from Division 1 last season).
Furthermore in 2019, the top league will be reduced from 18 to just 16 teams in an attempt to complement Thailand’s international fixtures in other competitions.
The second tier will be Thai League 2 (T2). The League will have 18 teams taking part (The 16th – 18th ranked teams that were relegated from Thai League 2016 and the 4th – 15th ranked teams in 2016 Division 1, plus the three teams promoted from Division 2 last season).
The third tier will be Thai League 3 (T3). The T3 will be played in 2017 for the first time.
Teams in the 1st – 4th ranked from 8 zones of 2016 Division 2 will participate in league T3 will apparently consist of 32 teams. This will be divided to two zones, 16 teams per each.
Thai League 4 (T4) will be the fourth tier. The 2016 Division 2 teams that did not make the grade for T3, and reserve teams of T1 teams will participate in T4.
This level offers no promotion opportunity for T1 reserve teams but rewards achievement financially.
The last tier is Thai Amateur Tournament, for the other amateur teams.
In addition the league’s divisions, the FAT have re-branded the new structure with new logos that will be used from the next season.
The fresh new designs include a modern take on the elephant icon that mix with the letter “T” (Thailand). All five leagues will use the same logo but with different colours for differentiation.
The FAT have also announced a new quota for ASEAN players to the new Thai football leagues.
Previously, they only used foreign and Asian quotas. The ASEAN quota will be first used in 2017 for T2, T3 and T4 although for T1, it will only be used in 2018.
