Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH) is an association which operates a professional ice hockey league based in Far East (East Asia and Russian Far East), with nine teams from Japan, China, Russia and South Korea. The league is headquartered in Japan. At the end of the playoffs every year the winner is awarded the Championship Trophy. The league draws most of its players from the home countries of its teams. However, to help build skill and raise the level of competitiveness the league allows each team a certain number of foreign imports on their roster.