.png)
2 hours ago
1
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Secretary General of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) Yunus Nusi confirmed that his party has sent an official letter of protest to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regarding the appointment of a Kuwaiti referee to lead the Indonesian national team's match in the fourth round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifier. However, the AFC rejected those objections and still appointed predetermined referees.
“At that time PSSI, I as secretary-general delivered a letter of protest to AFC questioning why its match devices were from the Middle East or from Kuwait,” Yunus Nusi said in a voice recording received by Republika.co.id on Tuesday (7/10/2025).
The Indonesian national team will face Saudi Arabia on October 8 and Iraq on October 11, 2025, Jeddah time. These two matches were decisive for Garuda's squad's move towards the final round of the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Yunus explained that PSSI considered that the designation of a match device should take into account aspects of fairness and the principle of fair play. He said many of the best referees in Asia such as Japan, Korea and Australia could be appointed to maintain neutrality.
According to him, this is important because referees from the Middle East are judged to have potential conflicts of interest given their origin from the same region as potential opponents of Indonesia.
The AFC later gave an official reply to the protest letter. In the letter, the AFC confirmed the decision on the appointment of referees was final and in accordance with applicable policy.
The PSSI accepted the decision as it became the full authority of the AFC. Yunus said that the Indonesian football federation still respects the decision and hopes that the match will take place with the utmost respect for sportsmanship.
“PSSI accepts the decision because it is the responsibility of the AFC. We entrust as the reply to the letter from AFC to us to PSSI and of course we really hope that like sportsmanship, fair play in this match we are very much looking forward to,” Yunus said.
He said that the whole side hoped that the match would go neutral without the partiality of the match device. PSSI remains optimistic that the match will take place in a professional and fair manner.
Yunus also stressed that the party against Saudi Arabia and Iraq was an important momentum to safeguard Indonesia's chances of advancing to the final round.
“We are very optimistic that the referee will lead with fairness. That is certainly what the big Asian football family is hoping for, not only by Indonesians but certainly the Asian football community is looking forward to tomorrow night's game with neutral, neutral and fair refereeing leadership,” he said.
