Indonesia has made it clear about the possibility of leaving the AFC and forming a new federation.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The General Secretary of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI), Yunus Nusi, has denied the possibility of the organization leaving the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to form a new federation with Japan.

Recently, media outlets across Asia have been abuzz with reports that Japan may leave the AFC to form an East Asian Football Confederation. Indonesia has reportedly been invited to join this new confederation.

Indonesia denies reports of leaving the AFC (Photo: Getty).

However, PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi has denied this information. Speaking at a press conference on October 25th after returning from the AFC Conference in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Yunus Nusi said: “Several AFC member countries have asked us about rumors that, along with Japan and South Korea, they are leaving the Asian football governing body.”

This is an unfounded rumor. We hope this information will be dispelled soon. Indonesian fans should not support this false information. It is not good for PSSI and the Indonesian national team. The AFC is very sensitive to information from the media.”

Previously, the Japanese newspaper Football Tribe contacted key sources within the JFA to inquire about this information. An anonymous JFA official revealed: "That information is completely unfounded. No one knows where this rumor originated. It's just baseless gossip."

The information originates from UTV television (Iraq). According to the report, the Japan Football Association (JFA) is dissatisfied with the AFC's management and unfair decisions. Therefore, they are considering leaving the Asian football governing body to form their own federation, the East Asian Confederation.

Several other countries, including Iraq, Uzbekistan, Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand, are reportedly considering joining if the plan materializes.

Previously, Japan also denied reports of leaving the AFC (Photo: Getty).

The JFA is particularly unhappy with the AFC's change to the AFC Champions League Elite format, which involved moving matches from the quarter-finals onwards to a centralized location in Saudi Arabia starting last season.

The Football Association of Japan (FAC) argues that the AFC is overly reliant on funding from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. As a result, the Asian football governing body has made numerous biased decisions in favor of West Asian representatives.

Recently, Indonesia also suffered a major disadvantage when they had to play their 4th round World Cup 2026 qualifiers in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the AFC even assigned a West Asian referee to officiate the match between Indonesia and host Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/indonesia-noi-ro-ve-kha-nang-roi-khoi-afc-thanh-lap-lien-doan-moi-20251026182254721.htm