Football Association of Indonesia

The Football Association of Indonesia or PSSI (Indonesian language: Persatuan Sepak bola Seluruh Indonesia; sometimes translated as All Indonesia's Football Association) is the governing body of football in Indonesia. It was founded on April 19, 1930, 15 years before Indonesian independence[1]. PSSI joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1954 and FIFA in 1952 and on the current international football list, Indonesian football is listed at 127th place.
History
PSSI was established by a civil engineer named Soeratin Sosrosoegondo, who graduated in Germany and came back to Indonesia in 1928. In Indonesia, he worked at a Dutch company in Yogyakarta and became the first Indonesian to work at that company. However, later he resigned from the company and became more active in the revolutionary movement. As a man who loved football, he realised that football could be one of Indonesia's "weapons" to gather Indonesian men and forced the Dutch colonies to leave Indonesia.

To accomplish his mission, Soeratin held many meetings with Indonesian football professional players at that time, mostly through personal contact since they wanted to avoid the Dutch police. Later, at a meeting that was held in Jakarta with Soeri, the head of Vetbalbond Indonesische Jakarta (VIJ), and other players, they decided to establish a national football organization. On April 19, 1930, almost all non-national organizations, such as Voetbalbond Indonesische Jakarta (Jakarta), Bandoengsche Indonesische Voetbal Bond (Bandung), Persatuan Sepakbola Mataram (Yogyakarta), Madioensche Voetbal Bond (Madiun), Indonesische Voetbal Bond Magelang (Magelang), Soerabajashe Indonesische Voetbal Bond (Surabaya), and Vortenlandsche Voetbal Bond (Solo) gathered at the final meeting and established Persatoean Sepakbola Seloeroeh Indonesia (Football Association of Indonesia or PSSI) with Soeratin as the first leader.

In PSSI's earlier years, they mainly used football as a method to resist the Dutch control of the colonies by gathering all the footballers which mostly were men. Later, because PSSI became stronger. In 1936, NIVB was changed to NIVU (Nederlandsh Indische Voetbal Unie) and cooperation with the Dutch began. In 1938, with "Dutch East Indies" as a name, NIVU sent their team to the 1938 World Cup. However, most the players came from NIVU, instead of PSSI, although there were 9 Tionghoa/"pribumi" players. As a result, Soeratin expressed his protest since he wanted a match between NIVU and PSSI before the world cup. In addition, he was also disgraced because the flag that was used at the world cup was the NIVU's (Dutch)'s flag. Soeratin then cancelled the agreement with NIVU and Muhammad Rizki at the PSSI congress in 1939 in Solo.
The Indonesia national football team represents Indonesia in international football; it is controlled by the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). Despite football being one of the nation's favourite sports, Indonesia is not among the strongest teams in the AFC. However, in history they are considered as one of the strong teams in Southeast Asia. Prior to independence in 1945, the team competed as the Dutch East
History

Indonesia, under the name Dutch East Indies, was the first Asian team to participate in the World Cup when they qualified to the 1938 tournament. A 6-0 first-round loss in Reims to eventual finalists Hungary remains the country's only appearance in the World Cup.
Dutch East Indies players line up in Reims, France in 1938 to face Hungary.

In 1958, the team tasted their first World Cup action as Indonesia in the qualifying rounds. They got past China in the first round, but subsequently refused to play their next opponents Israel. The team suffered a long hiatus from FIFA World Cup since 1958 due to an unfavourable political situation - both internally and externally. It was only in 1974 that Indonesia returned to the fold.

Indonesia's first appearance in the AFC Asian Cup was in the United Arab Emirates in 1996, Indonesia only gained one point from a draw against Kuwait in the first round. Their second appearance in Asian Cup was in Lebanon in 2000; again, Indonesia gained only one point from three games from a draw also against Kuwait. Indonesia performed better in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, beating Qatar 2-1 to record their first ever victory in the Asian Cup; unfortunately this was not enough to qualify for the second round. In 2007, they were the co-host of the tournament. They defeated Bahrain 2-1 in their opening match, but lost their last two ties against Asian giants Saudi Arabia and South Korea and finished third in the group and failed to reach the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, their 2007 AFC Asian Cup performance is considered as their best performance in the tournament.

Indonesia has yet to win the regional ASEAN Football Championship, despite reaching the final three times (2000, 2002, and 2004). Their only continental titles came in the 1987 and 1991 Southeast Asian Games. A group win in the 2004 Asian Cup tournament, their first ever in that competition, may signal a rise in the side's stature on the Asian football scene. Under the guidance of former Aston Villa and England striker Peter Withe, the South-East Asian outfit looked set to continue their success in terms of football development and in the FIFA World Rankings. However on January 18, 2007, Withe was sacked due to their first round exit from the ASEAN Football Championship and replaced by Ivan Venkov Kolev. Ivan Venkov Kolev was sacked due to the team's poor performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and replaced by Benny Dollo. Recently Alfred Riedl was appointed as the new head coach after Benny Dollo was sacked due to the team's poor performance at the 2011 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
Kit
During the Dutch colonial era, the team competed as Dutch East Indies in international matches and played in an orange jersey, the national colour of the Netherlands. There are no official documents about the team's kit, only several black-and-white photos from the match against Hungary in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, but unofficial documents stated that the kit consisted of an orange jersey, white shorts and light blue socks.[2] After Indonesia's independence, the kit consists the colours of the country's flag, which are red and white. A combination of green and white has also been used for the away kits, and was used from the team's participation in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, until in the mid 1980s.[3] During the 1990s, the colour changed to all-red for the home kit and all-white for the away kit. In 2007, just before the start of the Asian Cup, the original colours were restored.

The shirt badge has always been the Garuda Pancasila, Indonesia's coat of arms. This is where the inspiration of the song Garuda di Dadaku (Garuda on My Chest) came from. The song is a modified version of a Papuan folk song, Apuse, with the lyrics changed. It was made by Persija Jakarta football fans, and was popularized by Jakmania which was recorded for a movie under the same name.
Home Stadium
The Indonesian home stadium is the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. The stadium capacity is 88,083. The stadium is the largest Stadium in Indonesia, it is also the largest stadium in South East Asia and the 10th Biggest football stadium in the world. It is located in Jakarta, Indonesia. The stadium was built in 1960 for the 1962 Asian Games and is the home stadium of Indonesia football team up to present.

Other stadia used include:

* Lebak Bulus Stadium
* Jakabaring Stadium
* Jalak Harupat Soreang Stadium
* Gelora 10 November Stadium
* Manahan Stadium
* Siliwangi Stadium

When the Japanese armies came to Indonesia, PSSI became inactive because Japan classified PSSI as a Tai Iku Kai's organization, or a Japanese sport association.
National teams
Currently, Indonesia has the following football national teams:

* Indonesia national football team
* Indonesia national under-23 football team
* Indonesia national under-21 football team
* Indonesia national under-19 football team
* Indonesia national under-16 football team
* Indonesia national futsal team
* Indonesia national women football team
Club competitions
PSSI has five levels of national football league, which are Indonesia Super League (ISL), Premier Division, First Division, Second Division and Third Division. The top three levels of the structure are professional competitions, whereas the rest are amateur competitions.

There are other football competitions in national level, namely the National Youth League (U-15), Indonesian Women Football Tournament, Indonesian National Futsal League and Indonesia Super League U-21 which is held in parallel with the ISL.

Furthermore, each regional level (and lower) football associations in the country have their own annual amateur football competition structure involving local clubs.
Principals of PSSI
Chairmen

* Soeratin Sosrosoegondo(1930–1940)
* Artono Martosoewignyo (1941–1949)
* Maladi (1950–1959)
* Abdul Wahab Djojohadikusumo (1960–1964)
* Maulwi Saelan (1964–1967)
* Kosasih Poerwanegara (1967–1974)
* Bardosono (1975–1977)
* Moehono (1977)
* Ali Sadikin (1978–1981)
* Syarnoebi Said (1982–1983)
* Kardono (1983–1991)
* Azwar Anas (1991–2000)
* Agum Gumelar (2000–2004)
* Nurdin Halid (2004–present)
Boards
PSSI has 4 organizations in its organizational structure, namely: the Liga Indonesia Inc. (or PT. Liga Indonesia in Indonesian) which is responsible for the super league and premier division, the Board for Amateur Leagues for the first, second and third divisions, Board for National Team for national teams and Board for Futsal National Team for national futsal teams[2].