BRI Super League 2025-2026: The Largest Exodus of Brazilian Players in Indonesian League History

The policy of I.League, the operator of the BRI Super League competition for 2025-2026, allowing clubs to contract 11 foreign players has had a significant impact on the exodus of Brazilian football expatriates.

As the kickoff of the first week of the new season approaches in 10 days, imported football players from the "Land of Samba" have already scored the highest number of goals since the Indonesian professional league began in 1994-1995.

In the latest Super League regulations, each participating team (18 teams) is allowed to contract 11 foreign players. However, only nine may be included in the match lineup. From the number on the player list, a maximum of seven players are permitted to compete.

This situation has been taken advantage of by the best teams in the country. At the very least, the teams have contracted seven foreign players. Two teams, such as Bhayangkara Presisi Lampung FC and Semen Padang, have even fulfilled the quota of 11 foreign players.

The defending champion, Persib Bandung, has announced nine foreign players. "Maung Bandung" still has two slots left for foreign players. Unlike other teams, all of Persib's foreign players have the opportunity to play together in the Two Champions League.

This privilege is also held by Dewa United, which competes in the Asian Challenge League. Although they have only contracted eight foreign players, the "Banten Warriors" actually possess two quality star players from the naturalization duo, namely Stefano Lilipaly and Rafael Struick.

Interestingly, the increase in the quota for foreign players has a significant impact on players from Brazil. Since the era of Liga 1 Indonesia began in 2017, Brazil has consistently ranked first as the country that exports the most players.

The number of Brazilian players active in Liga 1 has always been more than 20 players. The lowest quantity of Brazilian players occurred in the 2018 edition with 22 players.

The increase in the quota for foreign players over three consecutive seasons issued by I.League—the new name for PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB)—correlates with the surge in the number of players from Brazil. Since the 2023-2024 season, the number of imported players from Brazil has exceeded 40 in a single season. Specifically, there are 42 players. This figure is the accumulation from two transfer windows.

In the 2024-2025 edition of Liga 1, the total number of Brazilian players earning a living through their performances on the green field in Indonesia reached 63 players. This is the highest number of foreign players from a single country in Indonesia's professional competition.

If divided into two transfer windows, a total of 19 Brazilian players arrived in the second half of the season. This means that there are 44 players on the roster of Liga 1 contestants since the beginning of last season.

However, the record number of players from Brazil is set to be broken again in the 2025-2026 Super League. The competition has not yet started, and the transfer market is still open until August, with 57 players from Brazil already introduced by 18 participating clubs for the new season. This quantity represents approximately 37 percent of the 153 foreign players who have signed contracts with Super League teams.

With not all teams having filled their maximum quota of foreign players, the number of Brazilian players at the beginning of the 2025-2026 campaign has the potential to reach 60, and may even exceed the figure from last season.

Of the 57 Brazilian players, there are 22 footballers among them who are debutants in the Indonesian competition. They are distributed across eight different teams.

Persija Jakarta is the team that has brought the most new Brazilian players to Indonesia. Five Brazilian foreign players belonging to "Macan Kemayoran" are debutants. They are Allano Lima, Van Sousa, Gustavo Franca, Fabio Calonego, and Alan Cardoso.

Brazilian players have representatives in 18 clubs of the 2025-2027 Super League. Persija and Arema FC have the highest number of players from the Samba country, with seven players each.

Furthermore, PSM Makassar followed suit by signing five foreign players from Brazil. Persib, Borneo FC, and the promoted team, Persijap Jepara, contracted four players from that South American country.

Of the 18 teams, only four teams have one Brazilian player. They are Persebaya Surabaya, Persis Solo, Bali United, and PSIM Yogyakarta.

With that number, the number of Brazilian players is significant in the overall player count in the Super League. Their presence percentage has reached 10 percent of the total registered players as of the end of July.

If all clubs maximize the quota of 35 players for registration, the number of players from Brazil would also reach nine percent of the maximum player quantity in the Super League, which totals 630 players.

Undoubtedly, the number of foreign players from Brazil in the Super League is the largest quantity in Southeast Asia, as well as in Asia. The quantity of Brazilian players in Indonesia has already surpassed that of J.League 1 or the Japanese League 2025, which has a total of 52 players.

In Southeast Asia, the Thai League 1 2025-2026, which has already contracted 40 players from the Samba Nation, is the closest competitor to the Indonesian League in terms of the number of imported Brazilian players.

The decision of dominant clubs to sign Brazilian players is closely related to the influence of the coaches. Persija and Arema FC are managed by new coaches from Brazil. Persija has contracted Mauricio Souza, while Arema has partnered with Marquinhos Santos.

PSM also enjoys bringing in Brazilian players as they are still coached by Bernardo Tavares from Portugal. Both Brazil and Portugal use the Portuguese language. The same is true for Persijap's coach, Mario Lemos, who is also from Portugal.

Stefano "Teco" Cugurra, the Brazilian-born former coach of Bali United and Persija, revealed that coaches' tendency to sign Brazilian players is based on both technical and non-technical factors. In his experience, Brazilian players adapt quickly to the Indonesian League's style of play, which relies on speed and individual technique.

"The atmosphere (weather and nature) of Brazil is similar to that of Indonesia, which is why many Brazilian players feel comfortable pursuing their careers in Indonesia," said Teco, who is currently coaching Barito Putera. Teco, who has won three Liga 1 titles, holds an Indonesian passport.

Referring to the CIES Football Observatory report titled "Football Expatriates: 2020-2025 (May 2025)", the number of Brazilian players who have pursued their careers in Indonesia over the past five years has reached 111 footballers.

That figure places Indonesia in eighth position among the favorite countries for Brazilian players to pursue their careers abroad. Indonesia's ranking has risen by two places from last year's similar report, where it was in tenth position, in May 2024.

The seven countries above Indonesia are Portugal (643 players), Japan (199), Malta (139), the United Arab Emirates (133), South Korea (131), Spain (114), and Ukraine (112).

Specifically looking at the quantity in 2025, Indonesia ranks fourth among countries with the highest number of Brazilian football expatriates. Indonesia is only surpassed by Portugal, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.

A total of 57 Brazilian players who will compete in the 2025-2026 Super League is similar to four percent of the total Brazilian football expatriates who have migrated from their homeland. For 2025, it is recorded that 1,418 Brazilian footballers have chosen to pursue their careers abroad.