PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir faces scrutiny after nearly a month without posting about the Indonesian national team on his personal Instagram. His uploads have instead focused on gold medal achievements in other sports at the 2025 SEA Games. This has raised questions from the public amid the team's string of failures throughout the year.
Erick Thohir, PSSI Chairman, last posted about Indonesian football on November 22 regarding the FIFA Series. Until December 18, 2025, or nearly a month later, there were no specific uploads discussing the struggles of the Indonesian national team, either senior or youth squads. Instead, his content has been dominated by successes in other sports, particularly Indonesia's gold medal hauls at the 2025 SEA Games.
This situation has sparked questions among fans and netizens. Many view Erick's posts as imbalanced, highlighting other sports' successes while the national team's failures at the 2025 SEA Games receive no response, not even words of encouragement. Throughout 2025, Indonesian football has been in its worst phase following a promising 2024 performance.
PSSI sacked coach Shin Tae-yong early in the year to boost achievements, but results have not been positive. Under new coach Patrick Kluivert, the senior team won only three of seven matches: against Bahrain, China, and Taiwan in friendlies. Heavy defeats include 1-5 to Australia and 0-6 to Japan. In the Round 4 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, losses of 2-3 to Saudi Arabia and 0-1 to Iraq left the team bottom of the group, dashing World Cup hopes.
Youth teams also underperformed. The U-23 side finished runner-up in the AFF U-23 Cup and was eliminated in the 2026 Asian Cup U-23 qualifiers. The U-20 team earned just one point in the group stage of the 2025 Asian Cup U-20. Specifically, at the 2025 SEA Games, the U-22 team failed to reach the semifinals after a 0-1 loss to the Philippines—the first SEA Games defeat to the Azkals—and failing to secure a big win over Myanmar. National Team Board Chairman Sumardji called the performance 'unbelievable,' despite maximal preparation including intensive training camps and four international friendlies against India U-23 and Mali U-22.
