The national governing body of professional football said Monday it will retain the same structure for the top-flight competition next season, with clubs to be divided into two tiers in the fall.

The K League said the 12 teams in the first-division K League Classic will each play 38 matches. They will first play 33 games from March 7 to Oct. 4, and then they will be split into the upper tier, or Group A, and the lower tier, or Group B, based on their records at that point.

Teams will then play five more matches within their group from Oct. 17 to Nov. 29.

"As long as the number of clubs in the K League Classic doesn't change, this structure will remain in place," the league office said in a statement.

As was the case this year, the last-ranked K League Classic club will be relegated to the second-division K League Challenge in 2016. The first-place club from the K League Challenge will be promoted to the first division.

The second-to-last club will enter a relegation playoff against a winner from the separate K League Challenge playoff involving second-, third- and fourth-ranked teams there.

The K League Challenge next season will welcome its 11th member, Seoul Eland FC. Teams there will each play 40 matches. (Yonhap)