J League's 100 Year Vision Anniversary Tournament: What actually is it?

For many J League fans, the J League's 100 Year Vision tournament seems like a cataclysm of weird rules, teams, leagues and formats, somewhat in line with the times, notably the rejigging of the UEFA Champions League to a league format. The J League's new tournament chucks in more than just that though, with no draws, penalty shootouts and mergers of leagues, which are then split. It will all make sense eventually...

What is the J League 100 Year Vision Tournament?

The first place to start with when looking at this abomination of a tournament is the format, with the entirety of the J1 League, including the top 3 teams of the J2 League, merging into a 20 team league which is then split via geographical location into 'East' and 'West', similar to the American NBA format.

East:

• Tokyo Verdy

• Kawasaki Frontale

• Tokyo FC

• Kashima Antlers

• Mito HollyHock

• Urawa Red Diamonds

• JEF Chiba

• Kashiwa Reysol

• Yokohama F. Marinos

• Machida Zelvia

West:

• Gamba Osaka

• Vissel Kobe

• Kyoto Sanga

• Sanfrecce Hiroshima

• Nagoya Grampus

• Cerezo Osaka

• Fagiano Okayama

• Avispa Fukuoka

• Shimizu S-Pulse

• V-Varen Nagasaki

These teams will battle it out from the 7th February until 24th May in a double round robin league format, with 3 points for a win in 90 minutes, 2 points for a win via penalty shootout, and no points for a loss, unless the loss is via penalties where the losers gain 1 point. Interestingly, draws simply don't exist here, which I'm sure is music to many fans ears. As for the players, the same rule of only 5 foreign players remains in place for this tournament.

Playoffs Chaos

Once the league phases are completed, the playoff phase commences on the 6th June, with each team of each leagues top 6 playing a 'play-off' against their East or West counterparts to then determine the final finishing place.

Ultimately, the two top teams will battle for the title of champion, which comes with instant qualification to next seasons AFC Champions League Elite and a tidy bit of prize money, totalling at 2.5 billion JPY. The bottom two teams will also play each other to avoid being the ultimate loser.

J2 and J3 League's Own Special Tournament

The J2 and J3 League's, to add to the confusion, have their own 100 Year Vision tournament going on. The two leagues merge, and then split into 4 groups, again via geographical location. The format from then on is the same as the J1 League's format, with teams playing in their respective regional groups, and a mini-playoff at the end to determine winners and losers.

East A:

• Tochigi SC

• Tochigi City

• Akita Blaublitz

• Vegalta Sendai

• Yokohama FC

• Yamagata Montedio

• Shonan Bellmare

• Hachinohe Vanraure

• Gunma Thespa

• SC Sagamihara

East B:

• Ventforet Kofu

• Iwaki FC

• FC Gifu

• RB Omiya Ardjia

• Fujieda MYFC

• Jubilo Iwata

• AC Nagano Parciero

• Hokkaido Consodale Sapporo

• Matsumoto Yamaga FC

• Fukushima United FC

West A:

• FC Osaka

• FC Imabari

• Ehime FC

• Nara Club

• Albirex Niigata

• Kamatamare Sanuki

• Zweigen Kanazawa

• Kataller Toyama

• Kochi United SC

• Tokushima Vortis

West B:

• Miyazaki Tegevjaro

• Roasso Kumamoto

• Oita Trinita

• Kagoshima United FC

• Gainare Tottori

• Renofa Yamaguchi

• Sagan Tosu

• FC Ryukyu

• Reilac Shiga FC

• Kitakyushu Giravanz

What's certain is this odd yet exciting and massively confusing tournament is in line with the J League's confidence in being leaders of change within the footballing world. The J League themselves mention often the word 'evolution' on their website, and with a new spin on draws, points systems and league formats, the J League may have opened a pandora's box of new ideas in the makeup of domestic football.