Affected by Budget Efficiency, PSSI Strengthens Sponsorship Funds

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The budget efficiency initiated by President Prabowo Subianto's government has impacted the sports sector, including football. With the reduction in state funding, PSSI has increased commercial support from sponsors.

The Chairman of PSSI, Erick Thohir, respects the government's decision to allocate budgets, including in the field of sports. He revealed that the government's budget for football has also been reduced.

In 2024, PSSI received a budget allocation of Rp 250 billion, while for 2025 government assistance was reduced by around Rp 23 billion. As a result, PSSI received around Rp 227 billion from the government.

"PSSI needs at least Rp 650 billion every year. With the government's assistance, we need an additional Rp 400 billion. We at PSSI are really trying hard to build funding from the private sector," said Erick in Jakarta, Saturday (23/2/2025) evening.

Despite the budget reduction, Erick emphasized that the amount of funding allocated to PSSI demonstrates the government's consistent commitment to implementing the transformation of national football. This has drawn the attention of FIFA following the Kanjuruhan Tragedy on October 1, 2022.

In addition to the government, PSSI also received budget support from PT Liga Indonesia Baru as the operator of the three professional and semi-professional football competitions in the country. In order to help PSSI's operations, PT LIB set aside Rp 25 billion of their commercial income.

Erick said, PSSI during his leadership period did not ask for a large profit share from PT LIB. "As compensation, PT LIB improves the quality of national competitions by presenting VAR (video assistant referee)," he continued.

Amidst the decreasing budget from the government, PSSI through PT Garuda Sepak Bola Indonesia (GSI) is intensifying commercial partnerships with several private brands. Until February 2025, PSSI has established commercial partnerships with 22 companies.

Most recently, PSSI has partnered with a new partner from the Vietnamese electric car company, VinFast. The signing ceremony for the partnership was held in Jakarta, Saturday. The agenda was carried out by Erick who was accompanied by PT GSI Managing Director Marsal Masita with VinFast Asia CEO Pham Sanh Chau.

The collaboration with PSSI, said Pham, is VinFast's real commitment to support Indonesian football while increasing brand awareness for automotive lovers in Indonesia.

"We are inspired by the deep love of Indonesian people for football. We are very enthusiastic to support the Indonesian national team to achieve greater achievements and pave the way for future success," said Pham.

Marsal said that partnerships with private brands are very important for PSSI's efforts to build the Indonesian national team to pursue their dream of going to the 2026 World Cup. He hopes that the latest partnership with automotive brands can provide mutual benefits for the national team and VinFast.

“This partnership not only provides motivation for the national team, but also increases the importance of environmentally friendly technology in the national football ecosystem,” said Marsal.

Compared to 2024, the value of PSSI's commercial cooperation has increased rapidly. From only receiving partnership funds of around IDR 220 billion, this year the commercial cooperation figure has reached more than IDR 350 billion. In fact, that number still has the potential to increase with the potential presence of a number of new partners this year.

"Sponsorship funds are very important for PSSI's program to aggressively improve the achievements and quality of the national team. At least almost 70 percent of the funds for the national team come from the private sector," said Erick, who is also the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN).

As previously reported, PSSI has budgeted around Rp390 billion for the national team's needs. The team includes the senior team, U-23, U-20, U-17, and the women's team.

The majority of the funding needs are allocated for training camp programs ahead of official tournaments. For example, the senior team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup, the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup, the 2025 U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, the 2025 SEA Games, and the 2025 ASEAN Women's Cup.