REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Prabowo Subianto summoned Minister of Youth and Sports and PSSI General Chairman Erick Thohir and Indonesian National Team Coach John Herdman to Hambalang, West Java. In a video posted on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel, the three men engaged in a discussion in a room at the head of state's residence.
In the video footage, Herdman appears to tell her son who is going through the process towards graduating from school. Erick occasionally gets in on the conversation. President Prabowo listened more to Herdman and Erick.
Behind the relaxed atmosphere seen in the video, the gist of the meeting discussed a number of important things. Minister of State Prasetyo Hadi said the meeting was held to discuss the development and strengthening plans of national football.
According to Prasetyo, the three figures also talked about steps to strengthen the Indonesian national team in the future. That discussion includes a follow-up to the naturalization process of players who have recently obtained approval.
They also discussed preparations for facing various upcoming international football agendas. Not only that, the meeting also highlighted efforts to improve the national competition climate in order to produce quality players to strengthen the national team.
“If in his capacity as General Chairman of PSSI, of course we improve our competition climate to be able to produce a great national team, a tough one, that is passionate to realize the whole dream of the Indonesian people, the national team qualifies for the World Cup,” Minister of State Prasetyo Hadi said in a message to the President, as quoted by the BPMI Presidential Secretariat in Jakarta on Friday.
In the midst of the 2026 World Cup, the government is judged to be paying enormous attention to the future of sporting achievements, particularly football.
Prasetyo stated that the government actually really hoped that Garuda's squad would break through the most prestigious tournament of this period, which in reality failed to qualify.
“As we know, it just so happens that it's been almost a week away, the quadrennial World Cup party. We were really hoping that our national team could qualify this year, but in the meantime we still haven't,” he said.
He stressed the importance of much more mature preparation early on and internal strengthening of the squad in order to face the nearest international agenda, such as the FIFA Series of 2027.
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