The F. League (in Japanese: FãÂȋªã¼ã°, officially æÂ¥æ‹ÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãµã«ãªã¼ã°, Nihon Futtosaru Rëgu) is the top league for Futsal in Japan. The winning team obtains the participation right to the AFC Futsal Club Championship.
The league was formed in 2007 as a complement for the elimination tournament, which groups regional futsal champions into a final elimination phase.
The league operates on a closed league model combined with promotion and relegation system that are only done within the league. The clubs are thus expansion teams. Fuchu Athletic F.C. and Espolada Hokkaido became the first expansion teams in 2009, which increased the number of clubs from 8 to 10. , the league consists of 21 teams divided by two divisions based on the performance of the teams â 12 in Division 1 and 9 in Division 2.
In F. League play, the clubs battle each other three times: once at home, once away and once in a neutral venue (generally Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo). The season runs from August to February.
An elimination league cup, the Ocean Cup is played every season by the 12 F.League teams.