Introduction
Indonesia’s football culture is rich and diverse, characterized by its vast market and rapid growth. The football market in Indonesia is hugely popular and still growing; given the fact that Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and home to more than 279 million people. We will review their leagues, organizational structure, deal closure processes, systems, culture, and additional relevant factors.
League Structure
Currently, the competition structure in Indonesia consists of four tiers. The top three levels are professional leagues, while the remaining levels are classified as amateur and semi-professional. Liga 1 is the first division of professional football in Indonesia and currently has 18 clubs. It is divided into two divisions, Liga 2 and Liga 3, and has a promotion and relegation system.
How transfers work in Indonesia
Indonesia has two transfer windows per year. The summer transfer, which is from June to early September, and the winter transfer window is from mid-December to mid-January. The player transfer process in Indonesia varies based on whether a club is acquiring or offloading a player. However, the overall procedure remains largely consistent across transactions, whether a club is purchasing, selling, or loaning a player, as illustrated in the following picture:
[Figure 1, The transfer mechanism for football players. Source: https://jiss.publikasiindonesia.id/index.php/jiss/article/view/778/1478].
According to Figure 1. The player transfer mechanism shows how the player’s new club handles the transfer process. The new club begins by entering the necessary information into the system. Secondly, the home club association where the player was last registered should confirm the registration. Thirdly, the association processes the international transfer certificate in TMS. Fourth, the new club uploads payment proof.
Financial and Payment Details
The rupiah is the official currency of Indonesia. Indonesian footballers’ salaries and income have remained a mystery. The Transfermarkt site does not provide information about football players’ salaries in Indonesia. Players are only listed according to their transfer value. There is a notable difference between the salary of footballers in Indonesia and the salary information of football players in Europe, which is widely reported in the media. However, the former Manager of Persebaya Surabaya, Candra Wahyudi, revealed the average salary earned by Indonesian footballers on MAINBASKET channel on YouTube:
- Foreign players who play for Indonesian clubs net salary range from Rp 250,000,000.00 IDR ($16,052.45 USD) to Rp 300,000,000.00 IDR ($19,262.93 USD) per month.
- For local players, the highest nominal net salary ranges from Rp 130,000,000 IDR ($8,347.27 USD) to Rp 150,000,000.00 IDR ($ 9,631.47 USD) per month.
Conclusion
There’s no denying the richness and diversity of Indonesian football culture, which is characterized by its large market and rapid development. The football market in Indonesia is hugely popular and still growing, now that they have successfully hosted the 2023 U-17 FIFA World Cup. Not to mention their recent win against Saudi Arabia, they now stand in third place on the standings of the World Cup Qualifiers third round, only behind Australia and Japan.