Chinese team threatened by Indonesian fans, PSSI boss quickly speaks up

The president of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), Mr. Erick Thohir, called on his country's fans to behave well towards the Chinese team both on the field and on social media, after noticing many threats happening.

Indonesian team fears severe punishment from FIFA if violence recurs

The decisive match between Indonesia and China took place at 8:45 p.m. on June 5 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the penultimate round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. The match became heated not only because of the confrontation between the two teams' players on the field, but also because of the fans of both sides who were fiercely fighting each other on social networks.

Indonesian fans declare they will turn Bung Karno Stadium into a 'fire pan' when they host the Chinese team on June 5.

Photo: Reuters

"Some netizens are quite extreme. So I hope they will restrain themselves and maintain friendliness and behave well with their opponents for the sake of the country's face. Indonesian people are very friendly and always smile," said Mr. Erick Thohir.

The reason Mr. Erick Thohir had to speak up was because the heat of the match had caused many heated debates on social networks, leading to the risk of igniting violence on the field when the two teams Indonesia and China were about to meet.

Indonesian fans have long been reluctant to lose to anyone, they are willing to do everything to put pressure on their opponents to create an advantage for their team. What happened in the match against Bahrain last March demonstrated that (Indonesia won 1-0), CNN Indonesia reported.

At that time (March 25), Indonesian fans used racist words, attacked opponents, chanted xenophobic slogans or hateful words against the Bahrain team.

This incident caused PSSI to receive a heavy penalty from FIFA, with a fine of up to 400 million rupiah (about 630 million VND), and was forced to reduce the number of fans by 15% in the match against the Chinese team on June 5 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (with a capacity of up to 77,193 seats).

"We must maintain the spirit of sportsmanship , because FIFA also notes that if there is continued discrimination, violence or other extreme behavior, it can lead to heavier penalties, disqualification or ban from the competition. Therefore, I hope that Indonesian fans must, for the sake of the country's image, behave well and not use extreme words anymore," Mr. Erick Thohir emphasized.

Mr. Erick Thohir also reiterated: "Most Indonesian fans are not bad people who like violence. We have had very civilized and good matches when hosting visiting teams like Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia. That is really admirable, hopefully this goodness will also happen in the match against the Chinese team."

A life or death battle

Both Indonesia and China desperately need a win in the decisive match on the evening of June 5, to maintain their hopes in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, at least the chance to advance to the fourth qualifying round. A draw will significantly narrow the chances of both teams advancing. Therefore, this is a match that must determine the winner and the loser, CNN Indonesia emphasized.

At Bung Karno Stadium, the Indonesian team caused a shock when they beat Saudi Arabia 2-0, drew Australia 0-0 and beat Bahrain 1-0.

Photo: Reuters

In Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round 3 in Asia before the last 2 matches this June, the Indonesian team is ranked 4th with 9 points, 1 point behind Saudi Arabia (3rd place) and 4 points behind Australia (2nd place). The Japanese team leads the group with 20 points and has won a ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, the 2 bottom teams, Bahrain and China, both have 6 points.

The Chinese team no longer has a chance to compete for an official ticket to the final round, but they still have a chance to compete for 3rd or 4th place to enter the 4th qualifying round to continue to have hope. Their necessary condition is to win the remaining 2 matches against Indonesia and Bahrain at 6pm on June 10.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian team also needs to beat the Chinese team to ensure at least the current 4th position to continue, because in the remaining match they will meet the very strong team Japan.

The Indonesian team also has a chance to get the second direct ticket to the final round in Group C, but on the condition that they must win the remaining 2 matches, and opponents like Australia and Saudi Arabia must lose or lose points in the remaining matches. This is too difficult a condition, the team from the archipelago country aims for a position in the 4th qualifying round is the most practical.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-trung-quoc-bi-cdv-indonesia-de-doa-sep-lon-pssi-voi-va-len-tieng-185250605083646356.htm