Dennis Andersson: We're Interested in Holding the Gothia Cup in Indonesia, But There Are Conditions

The Gothia Cup is sowing a historic record this year by holding its 50th edition. Since its inception in 1975, the Gothia Cup has been established as the largest youth football tournament in the world, both in terms of the number of participants and its impact on producing top-class world footballers.

The term "the largest youth football tournament in the world" was also mentioned by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in the opening speech of the Gothia Cup 2025, which was broadcast via video on Monday (14/7/2025) at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. In its 2025 edition, the Gothia Cup recorded a record number of participating teams totaling 1,939 teams. A total of 4,905 matches were held over the six days of the event.

It is not surprising that other countries have adopted the Gothia Cup system to hold global youth football tournaments. China had the honor of importing the "Gothia Cup" brand from 2016 to 2019. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused the Gothia Cup to return to its origins, meaning it only took place in Gothenburg.

After emerging from the hiatus caused by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Gothia Cup has begun to rekindle its ambition to expand its organization in other parts of the world. Three editions since Covid-19 have been sufficient for the Gothia Cup organizers to regain stability in order to broaden their influence in early age development globally.

"I can say my ambition is to hold the Gothia Cup on every continent. Because in Gothenburg or Sweden, we can no longer grow. We have more than 600 teams on the waiting list for this year's edition out of more than 1,900 participating teams," said Dennis Andersson, General Secretary and co-founder of the Gothia Cup, in an exclusive interview with Kompas at the Gothia Cup Leaders Lounge in Heden, Gothenburg, Sweden, on Wednesday (July 16, 2025).

"We certainly want to export the ideas and values of the Gothia Cup to other continents. That is our main goal. I hope it does not have to wait for 50 years. Perhaps we can achieve it in 10 years," Andersson continued.

With global ambitions, Andersson revealed that the Gothia Cup is considering seeking out other Asian countries beyond China. So, what are Indonesia's chances of importing the Gothia Cup? Here's the full excerpt from Kompas' interview with Andersson.

Do you have any plans to hold the Gothia Cup outside of Sweden again?

I assure you that we are very eager to do that. We want to have one (Gothia Cup) in Asia, South America, North America, and Africa. After rebuilding post-Covid-19, we feel ready to seek hosting opportunities elsewhere.

We may start in Asia, as the interest in football is very high. Perhaps we will have a smaller country that is easier to engage with than China.

Is there a country you would like to see as the new “home” of the Gothia Cup?

Asia can be Singapore, Indonesia. Both countries have significant growth in football and are also nations with good economic growth.

Is Jakarta in your considerations?

If we want to hold it in Jakarta, for example, I would ask how many suitable fields are there in Jakarta? You would say one field here, another in a different location. This situation is exacerbated by the very poor traffic conditions, so I can assure you to forget about Jakarta (holding the Gothia Cup).

How is the potential compared to other areas?

Bali. We need to have investors willing to build facilities there. It is very appealing to hold tournaments in a country like Indonesia, but you must first have the supporting infrastructure.

What facilities are needed to host the Gothia Cup?

The most important aspect is the field. One field is sufficient for approximately 20 teams. Therefore, to accommodate 100 teams, you need five fields. With 10 fields, you can have 200 teams.

They (the fields) must be close together to avoid problems moving places, such as traffic jams and other obstacles.

It also has rest facilities for the team nearby. I suspect that Indonesia does not have school facilities like we do (in Sweden). If classroom space is limited, the cafeteria can serve as an alternative. And, you also need adequate hotel accommodations.

To organize a tournament in Indonesia, the competition venues and investments for it must already be in place. There must also be available facilities such as schools and hotels. This is because we cannot build them on our own. These facilities must be readily available.

What is the ownership status of the facilities used by the Gothia Cup participants in Gothenburg?

The local community and the Gothenburg City Government own all the facilities. They own the fields, the schools. Everything belongs to them.

We pay a rental fee that is not too high. This is because the Gothia Cup is very beneficial for the city. With all the impacts, such as tourism, we are not burdened with a large rental fee.

We do not own any fields. All of them are owned by the local community around the fields and the local government. There are no privately managed fields in Sweden.

Was there support from the local government from the start?

Yes, they have been supporting it since the beginning (1975 edition).

Every year the number of participants and matches of the Gothia Cup continues to increase, how can the availability of facilities be met?

As we grew year by year, we spoke with the city government. We explained that we needed more fields. Usually, they fulfilled that request. They built fields for us.

Now we are at least holding matches in 120 fields that are not only located in Gothenburg. All the fields are managed by the surrounding community.

How can the public and government give full support to the Gothia Cup?

Sport is crucial for the Swedish government and society as a whole. That's why community-provided sports facilities are provided.

They are building sports facilities not only for the Gothia Cup but also for daily sports needs, both for children and adults.

Sports should be very affordable. Not just soccer, handball, ice hockey, or gymnastics. Everything should be affordable.

Sports are in Sweden's DNA. This is something that cannot be compared to other countries. In addition to Sweden, Norway has a similar system.