Australia's Hyundai A-League and its Japanese counterpart, the J-League, have signed a co-operation agreement that will see the two parties share technical, marketing, and administrative expertise, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), there will be joint marketing and promotional strategies in place for matches featuring Japanese and Australian teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, the premier club tournament in Asia.

There will also be elite youth level matches between clubs from the two nations, while loan deals will be enabled between the leagues.

The MOU also confirms the continuation of a referee exchange program between the two leagues which has been in place over the past two years.

"This deal brings two of Asia's top football nations closer in a very meaningful way that will not just build relationships, but will have an impact on football development," said the chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA), David Gallop.

"The J-League and A-League are setting benchmarks in Asia and this is an opportunity to drive each other to even greater heights."