11 Foreign Players in BRI Super League, Proof That Competition Does Not Favor Local Talent

I-League, the new name of PT Liga Indonesia Baru as the operator of Indonesia's top-tier competition, has issued new regulations regarding the quota for foreign players starting from the 2025-2026 season. Each of the 18 contestants in the Super League, the new name for Liga 1, is allowed to have 11 foreign players. Out of these 11 players, eight can be included in the starting lineup and participate from the kickoff.

The policy regarding foreign players indicates that the best competition in Indonesia has consistently introduced an additional quota for foreign players in the last two seasons. In the 2024-2025 season, each team is allowed to register up to eight players, with only six permitted to compete.

The increase in the number of foreign players that clubs can contract will certainly threaten the playing time opportunities for local players. This can be observed in the 2024-2025 season.

Based on data from Sofascore and Transfermarkt, only Muhammad Toha, the right wing back and captain of Persita Tangerang, is a local player who is included in the top five players with the most playing minutes in the 2024-2025 BRI Liga 1 Indonesia.

Toha, who is currently the most loyal player with Persita, played in 33 games out of 34 matches in a season. His total playing time was 2,965 minutes. This means he was only absent for 95 minutes from the total duration of the "Pendekar Cisadane" matches under the guidance of Fabio Lefundes.

The four players who played the most in Liga 1 last season were foreign players with considerable experience, as they were over 32 years old. They include Sonny Stevens (goalkeeper/Dewa United), who did not miss a second of the matches of the team nicknamed the "Banten Warriors." In total, the Dutch passport-holding goalkeeper played for 3,060 minutes across 34 games.

The three players with the most appearances are Joao Ferrari (center-back/PSIS Semarang), Pedro Monteiro (center-back/Madura United), and Lucas Frigeri (goalkeeper/Arema FC). They demonstrated an extraordinary level of fitness and discipline.

If the list is expanded to the top 10 players with the most minutes played, only one domestic player is added. He is the center-back, Safrudin Tahar, who played for Malut United last season.

Tahar always appeared in 34 matches for Malut, but his playing time only reached 2,859 minutes. In other words, the 30-year-old defender was the only Indonesian player who could participate in all matches of Liga 1 last season.

If the list were to be expanded to include 25 players with the highest playing minutes, then the original Indonesian-trained players could only account for a total of six players. The additional four players are Fajar Fathurrahman (right wing-back/Borneo FC), Yance Sayuri (left wing-back/Malut United), Mario Jardel (left wing-back/Persita Tangerang), and Rizky Ridho (center-back/Persija Jakarta).

In total, only 27 locally developed players—excluding naturalized players—are included in the list of the 100 players with the most playing time in Liga 1 2024-2025. This means that foreign players are significantly dominant as the mainstay of the 18 best clubs in Indonesia.

The increase in the quota of foreign players in the last two seasons has proven to reduce the playing opportunities for local players. The rationale for the presence of foreign players to "select" the best local players to compete in Liga 1, as well as to help local players elevate their level, cannot serve as a foundation.

This actually reinforces the lack of impartiality among national football stakeholders, particularly competition operators and federations, towards players born from the womb of the motherland. Indeed, there are local players who can compete with foreign players, but their numbers are very limited.

The cause is the injustice in competition. Local players, the majority of whom come from South America, Europe, and East Asia, have quality systems and training facilities that far exceed those in Indonesia.

The number of 27 local players included in the list of the 100 players with the most minutes in Liga 1 2024-2025 shows a drastic decline compared to the previous two seasons. In the 2023-2024 season, when clubs were only allowed to recruit eight foreign players, the quantity of local players on that prestigious list reached 40 individuals.

In the 2022-2023 season, when foreign players were limited to a maximum of six footballers, there were 49 local players included in the list of the top 100 players with the highest minutes played in Liga 1.

So how does it compare to competing leagues in Southeast Asia?

The three ASEAN leagues that serve as direct benchmarks for Indonesia, namely Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, have proven to be more accommodating to players developed within their systems. During the 2024-2025 season, Thailand, for instance, implemented a rule allowing nine foreign players. Malaysia provides clubs the opportunity to contract a maximum of 15 players, while Vietnam enforces a policy of five foreign players.

In the Malaysian League, there are still 48 players developed by local clubs who are included in the list of the 100 players with the most playing minutes in the Malaysian Super League. This number does not include several naturalized players who are part of the Malaysian national team.

The number of local players from Thailand has reached 54 individuals who are included in the prestigious list for Thai 1 edition 2024-2025. Meanwhile, Vietnam continues to protect the playing rights of local talents. A total of 70 native Vietnamese players dominated the list of the 100 players with the highest playing minutes in V.League 1 last season.

By still relying on many local players, teams in the three ASEAN leagues have been able to perform well in international competitions. Buriram United from Thailand reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite and won the ASEAN Championship. Cong An Ha Noi (CAHN) made it to the final of the ASEAN Championship. Meanwhile, Malaysian giant Johor Darul Ta’zim was defeated by Buriram in the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League Elite.

A contrasting situation has emerged from the Indonesian representatives. Persib was eliminated in the group stage of the AFC Champions League. Madura United was knocked out by the Cambodian representative, Svay Rieng, in the semifinals of the AFC Challenge League. Meanwhile, PSM Makassar lost to CAHN in the semifinals of the ASEAN Championship. Borneo FC was eliminated in the group stage of the ASEAN Championship.

The President Director of PT LIB, Ferry Paulus, stated that the increase in the quota for foreign players is the result of an agreement among clubs during the general shareholders' meeting of PT LIB on Monday (7/7/2025). He believes that the addition of foreign players will not eliminate the opportunities for local players to compete.

"Eight players have now been established, so if there are injuries or the like, the replacements will still be local players. The local quota has not significantly decreased from the number of the previous season," said Ferry.

Meanwhile, Andritany Ardhiyasa, President of the Indonesian Professional Footballers Association (APPI), hopes that the new regulations regarding foreign players will be reconsidered. APPI, Andritany continued, believes that local players cannot achieve fairness in competing with foreign players.

The reason is that local players do not have facilities, infrastructure, and ecosystems of quality comparable to countries where the football industry is already well-established.

"What needs to be considered is the flight hours of local talent in Indonesia. If the ultimate goal of higher-quality competitions is the achievement of the national team, then this regulation is very contradictory," said Andritany, who is also the goalkeeper for Persija.

It seems that the BRI Super League, like its name change, also aims to have a more international feel. It is no longer a competition that favors local players...