Offside move? Why Indonesia’s football chief backed Fifa privatisation plan

When Fifa president Gianni Infantino pushed a plan to bring private investors into a new commercial entity tied to the World Cup, critics warned it risked selling part of football’s most valuable asset. Erick Thohir, chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI), disagreed. He backed the now-scrapped scheme – despite opposition from regional bodies including the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), PSSI’s own parent body – as he felt Indonesia owed Fifa a debt of gratitude for standing by its football after years of crisis. Analysts said that explanation told only part of the story. Thohir’s support was also aimed at preserving Infantino’s favour at a time when Indonesia was relying on Fifa’s political and financial backing to rebuild after a deadly stadium disaster, restore its international standing and pursue a bigger place in world football, they said. But gratitude was a weak reason to support a proposal much of football viewed as a threat to the game, they said, arguing Indonesia needed domestic funding and deeper grass roots reform more than another show of loyalty to Fifa. Infantino was seeking to raise US$20 billion from his proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would control events such as the men’s and women’s World Cups. The money would come from private investors such as Joshua Kushner, brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, ESPN reported. For national associations, the incentive was clear: each of Fifa’s 211 members would receive US$20 million in development funds through the 2027–30 World Cup commercial cycle if FFE were approved. That would increase to US$22 million and US$24 million in the next cycles. The Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) rejected the plan, while the AFC said Fifa should carry out a “comprehensive assessment, including appropriate legal and governance due diligence, meaningful consultation and careful consideration of the long-term implications of such an initiative”. Debt of gratitude Thohir, who is also Indonesia’s youth and sports minister, was instantly won over, though. Indonesia owed it to Fifa, he said. “Our football has achieved so many successes thanks to the community, government, and Fifa working together. We should be grateful, especially to Fifa,” Thohir told reporters on Friday, as cited by Antara. He pointed in particular to Fifa’s response after the October 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster, which killed 135 people. In the aftermath of the disaster, calls mounted for Fifa to impose heavy sanctions or ban Indonesia from international competition altogether. Instead, Fifa opted to partner with Jakarta to improve stadium safety and overhaul its football governance. In 2023, Indonesia also avoided Fifa sanctions after it refused to host Israel’s team for the men’s Under-20 World Cup. Later that year, Indonesia was awarded hosting rights for the Under-17 World Cup. “If there had not been an agreement at that time, we might not have had a national team or a football competition like we do today,” Thohir said. He also cited Fifa’s establishment of a “hub” in Jakarta and its spending of up to US$2 million a year to organise “13 or 15 events” in the country as evidence of its commitment to Indonesia’s football growth. In backing Infantino’s proposal, Thohir said many Fifa member nations had also already commercialised their domestic leagues and other competitions. But the show of support quickly became moot. On Friday, Infantino said the “proposal will not proceed” following widespread opposition. Support surprise Thohir’s vote of confidence for Fifa’s commercial privatisation plan shocked local football observers, who said Indonesia should not feel forced to endorse the scheme out of gratitude. “I was a bit surprised when he said he supported Fifa’s plan, amid opposition from all the federations, including the AFC and powerful countries like the Middle East, Japan and South Korea,” football pundit Gita Adhiprakoso Suwando said. “Maybe [Thohir] wants Infantino’s support for the advancement of Indonesian football. By supporting Infantino, Infantino will also support him. However, when we talk about the World Cup, it doesn’t belong to [investors], it belongs to the people, to the fans.” Fifa was not Indonesia’s only financing avenue, said Justinus Lhaksana, a former coach of the Indonesian national futsal team. “There are many ways to do that. For example, the current President’s Cup requires 45 billion rupiah [US$2.5 million]. The fund doesn’t come from the state budget, it’s purely private funding,” Justinus said. “This shows that we can secure funding for our football [events] without the state budget or state-owned enterprises.” Justinus also disputed the claim that Fifa helped Indonesia improve its football ranking, chalking the rise to a move to naturalise foreign-born players of Indonesian descent to make them eligible to play for the national team. The Indonesian men’s football team currently ranks 118th, up from 173rd in 2020. “In many developing countries, including Indonesia, there are no domestic competitions that run from August to May, for children aged six to 18. Well, Fifa can help us do this. Does Fifa do that? No. So there’s no need to praise Fifa,” Justinus said. Naturalised players are just a short-term solution, according to Gita. “If we continually seek out [foreign] players for naturalisation, it will be very difficult. We are a country, not a football club. This will also eliminate the chances of our domestic talents to play for the national team.” For sustained progress, grass-roots development was important, he said. “Domestic talents should be nurtured, while we seek out diaspora players from abroad. Let them compete [for a position in the national team]. Playing in the World Cup is a gift that should be earned.”

Offside move? Why Indonesia’s football chief backed Fifa privatisation plan

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Erick Thohir said the Indonesian football association should back Fifa’s proposal because of its contributions to the local game

Erick Thohir said the Indonesian football association should back Fifa’s proposal because of its contributions to the local game