Indonesia was punished by FIFA, losing advantage before the big match with China in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers

TPO - FIFA has officially punished Indonesia in connection with the discrimination incident that occurred during the match between Indonesia and Bahrain in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on March 25.

Indonesia will have to reduce the number of fans entering the stadium for the match against China.

This information was confirmed by Arya Sinulingga, Executive Committee Member of the Indonesian Football Federation: “Yesterday we received a letter from FIFA. In the letter, FIFA said that some Indonesian fans had behaved discriminatoryly during the match with Bahrain. The incident happened in the 80th minute. At that time, about 200-300 home fans chanted slogans with hateful words towards Bahrain.”

For this violation, Indonesia received two penalties from FIFA. The country's football governing body was fined more than 400 million rupiah (more than 600 million VND) and forced to reduce the number of spectators at the next home match.

“The first consequence is that PSSI will be fined 400 million rupiah,” said Mr. Arya. “Second, the stadium hosting our upcoming match will have to reduce the number of fans in the host area by 15%, mainly in the stands behind the goal.”

Indonesia and Bahrain are competing for a ticket to the fourth qualifying round.

Notably, Indonesia must serve their punishment in the most important match on the upcoming journey, the match against China. This can be considered a "death match" to decide the ticket to the 4th qualifying round.

With 3 more points than the opponent, Indonesia is holding the advantage, but if they don't win, they can completely be turned around because in the last match, Indonesia has to play away in Japan, their chance of winning points is very low.

Not to mention the reduction in the number of fans, the home team also has difficulties in terms of personnel. They lost Kevin Diks, the second most expensive defender of the team. He is one of the few Indonesian players playing in the national championship in Europe. His role is even more important.

Besides, Maselino Ferdinan and Maarten Paes are suspended. One is the team's leading creative midfielder, the other is the irreplaceable number 1 goalkeeper. All are threatening Indonesia's ambition to win 3 points against China.

Dang Lai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/indonesia-bi-fifa-trung-phat-mat-loi-the-truoc-dai-chien-voi-tuyen-trung-quoc-o-vong-quadruple-world-cup-2026-post1741192.tpo