In June 6, FIFA banned Indonesia from participating in international tournaments because of the country's government's excessive interference in the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI).
Indonesian youth football is successful with the combination of indigenous stars rising from the school sports model and naturalized players - Photo: AFC
And this begins a period of rising from the ashes of the island's football scene. In May 5, AFP news agency commented: "Indonesia is a football system that is too bad compared to its real strength."
Stains continuously appear
That comment is based on the abundant resources that Indonesia possesses. With a population of more than 275 million people, Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia and the third largest in Asia.
Another survey showed that up to 70% of Indonesians consider football to be the number 1 sport, meaning that in Indonesia there are nearly 200 million "soccer" followers. But located in an area that is considered a "low-lying area" of world football, Indonesia's achievements in most arenas are completely inferior to Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
If there is something that makes Indonesia stand out in world football, it can only be scandals. In 2015, they received a heavy fine from FIFA, before it was lifted a year later.
By 2022, they again suffered a stampede disaster that killed 135 people at Kanjuruhan Stadium. Half a year later, FIFA stripped Indonesia of the right to host the U20 World Cup because politics once again interfered deeply in football.
Recently, FIFA once again had to impose a fine on Indonesian football. This time the target is 5 big clubs of Liga 1 (Indonesian National Championship) because of financial problems. Not to mention the embarrassing brawl between this country's U23 team and Thailand in the 2023 SEA Games final, causing the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to issue a heavy fine.
Solve from the top
Noise, scandal... are the images Indonesian football has shown in the past 10 years. But it cannot be denied that they are still a real football platform with a large population.
Before criticizing Indonesian football's naturalization policy, fans should learn more about this country's history. How many players of Indonesian origin are famous on the international stage? The list listed may surprise fans. Those are Van Persie, Nigel De Jong, Roy Makaay, Van Bronckhorst, or most recently Radja Nainggolan.
Indonesia has close connections with the Netherlands. Statistics in 2021 show that up to 1,7 million Dutch people are of Indonesian origin, with more than 300.000 people born in the land of thousands of islands. Therefore, when Indonesia launched its naturalization campaign, it did not have much difficulty finding football stars with "Javanese blood".
The team that coach Shin Tae Yong brought to the 23 AFC U2024 Championship has 3 players born in the Netherlands, including Ivar Jenner, Tjoe-A-On and Rafael Struick - the hero in the victory over Korea U23 in the quarterfinals ( drew 2-2, Indonesia won on penalty kicks).
Expanding to the national team, Indonesia currently also has Oratmangoen and Thom Haye - who is valued at 4 million USD.
But convincing the above names to leave the Netherlands and travel more than 11.000km back to Indonesia for each international competition is not an easy task. Indonesia needs the position of president Erick Thohir.
At Heerenveen Club, Haye is earning a salary of 215.000 USD/year (5,5 billion VND). Therefore, there is no reason for Haye to choose a low-lying football background like Indonesia to "work hard" on international competition occasions. Thohir's prestige is one of the reasons why Indonesian football attracts stars.
Solid foundation
The mass naturalization of Indonesian football was initially not supported by the people of this country. So much so that the vice president of PSSI had to clarify: "Indonesia is aiming for immediate success. In the long term, we need local players to develop."
Despite being mired in scandals, Indonesian football has great depth. Their Liga 1 has 18 teams, with the average player value per club being more than 4 million euros/team according to Transfermarkt (higher than the V-League's 3 million euros/team). Liga 2 has up to 28 teams, and the corresponding average value is also 1,25 million euros/team.
In Indonesia's youth football model, there is the role of "football schools". Known as SSB for short, this model has begun to explode in the past 20 years. This is a famous model in Japan and Korea, where there are many schools specializing in sports.
Every year, students from the U10 group with football potential are advised and sent to SSBs such as Ragunan, Mitra Surabaya, Makassar or Persib Bandung. They study the normal cultural program like many other Indonesian students, with a higher level of focus on sports. And the SSBs continuously compete against each other.
Although the SSB model cannot help Indonesia improve the quality of the "top", it helps Indonesian football always maintain the depth and large number of young players. Since then, the selection of age-group teams has also become more qualified. There are at least 6 players in the current U23 Indonesia who grew up from SSB, including captain Rizky Ridho.
With the 2023 SEA Games gold medal and the campaign to reach the semi-finals of the 23 Asian U2024 Championship, Indonesian football is showing a revival from the ashes, after a series of noisy scandals in recent years. But that journey actually began in the early 2000s.
The prestige of chairman Erick Thohir
No official or football manager in Southeast Asia can compare with Thohir in terms of influence in top football.
This 53-year-old businessman once owned Inter Milan Club from 2013 to 2018 and American Club DC United along with a series of other famous clubs. It was Mr. Thohir who convinced Haye and many other players born in the Netherlands to return to play for the Indonesian team.
Tuoitre.vn
