Erick Thohir once owned Italy’s Inter and still has an interest in English club Oxford United, but the abiding soccer dream of the Indonesian businessman and politician is to take his country back to the FIFA World Cup.
Soccer is followed passionately by tens of millions in the Southeast Asian archipelago, but Indonesia’s sole World Cup appearance came as the Dutch East Indies in 1938, and the country has rarely threatened a return since independence in 1945.
Thohir, who became chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) last year, believes that Indonesia should at least be in the frame for a trip to the finals in 2026 with up to nine slots available to Asian teams.
Photo: Reuters
“Indonesia should be in the top nine in Asia, with our population and our passion for football from all of the people of Indonesia. But, of course it takes time,” the 54-year-old Cabinet minister told Reuters.
“We want to be in the top 50 in the world by 2045, because by that time our GDP per capita will be around US$27,000 to US$30,000,” he said. “This is a big country, so by then the quality of the football will have increased.”
Indonesia’s per capita GDP is about US$5,000 and the national team are 127th in the FIFA rankings, leaving plenty to do over the next two decades for Thohir and his colleagues in the realms of economics and soccer.
“Many people have mentioned that we’re sleeping giants, and this is why we have to create a program for how we can be better,” he said. “Government support is very important, the private sector is very important, and also the federation.”
As well as plotting the long-term strategy for improvement, Thohir has overseen efforts to entice members of the Indonesian diaspora, mostly born in the Netherlands, to play for the land of their heritage.
The project has been a great success, and South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong now has control of a squad that has become increasingly capable of competing with Asia’s best.
Indonesia are third in their World Cup group after six of 10 matches, one point behind Australia in the battle for the second automatic spot at the finals and very much in the running for the fourth round of Asian qualifying if they miss out.
“We are lucky that many of our diaspora living abroad believe in this project,” Thohir said. “We want to qualify for the World Cup, we want to qualify for the Olympics, and this is why all these players playing in Europe believe in the program.”
“They want to come back to their roots, because it is sentimental for mama, papa, grandma and grandpa, and this is something that I bring to them, a good program and a dream we want to achieve,” he said.
However, Thohir and the PSSI might struggle to find a similar quick fix for some of the more endemic problems in Indonesian soccer.
Hooliganism and match-fixing have long blighted the domestic game, while the PSSI was banned by global governing body FIFA due to government interference in 2015.
“Sport is local,” Thohir said. “We have cleaned up our league, we have partnered with the Japanese federation to clean up our referees.”
“If we have more clubs that are focused on the fundamentals, we can grow our talent,” he said.
“Of course, we are a bit unique, because we are trying to do it from the top of the pyramid down.” he added. “We will continue the program to bring up the sleeping giant onto the map of world football.”
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Robin Smith, the batter who shone for England in a period when it was beaten regularly in Test cricket, has died. He was 62. Smith’s family said in a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he died unexpectedly at his home in Perth, Australia, on Monday. No cause was given. He played 62 Tests for England from 1988 to 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at an average of 43.67 with nine centuries. His signature shot was the square cut. Smith also played in 71 one-day internationals and was part of England’s squad who reached the 1992 ICC World Cup final. His unbeaten
SSC Napoli on Sunday joined AC Milan at the top of Serie A after winning 1-0 at title rivals AS Roma, as Inter kept pace with the leading pair by beating Pisa SC 2-0. David Neres stroked home the only goal of a feisty game in the 36th minute at the Stadio Olimpico, ending a blistering counterattack with a calm finish which put Napoli on 28 points. Napoli are behind Milan on goal-difference, and just one point ahead of both Roma and Inter in a tight scudetto battle in which Antonio Conte’s team are to host Juventus at the weekend. “To come to
RSS