PSSI Talks About The Issue Of Shin Tae-yong's Removal As Manager Of The Indonesian National Team

JAKARTA - The issue of removing Shin Tae-yong as the head coach of the Indonesian national team continues to blow. PSSI through one of the Exco members, Vivin Cahyani, opened its voice about the news.

The news of the dismissal of the South Korean coach echoed again after his failure to bring Indonesia to reach its minimum target of advancing to the semifinals at the 2024 ASEAN Cup.

When contacted by ANTARA, Sunday, Vivin did not provide a firm answer regarding speculation about the replacement of the coach in the Garuda team. The only woman in the Exco PSSI ranks only replied that his party was open with any options to meet the national team's target for the 2026 World Cup.

"PSSI clearly has a big target towards the World Cup, it needs the support of all parties to transform towards a better one from all sides," said Vivin.

"For this reason, we are open to any options that make the Indonesian national team closer to the main target, namely entering the World Cup competition," he added.

In the mission to the 2026 World Cup, Indonesia under the leadership of Shin Tae-yong is still on the right track after bagging the first victory in the third round of qualifying against Saudi Arabia at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, November 2024.

This victory brought Indonesia to third place in Group C with six points, where this position is the position that Shin Tae-yong and PSSI are aiming for on a mission to the 2026 World Cup through the fourth round route.

However, Vivin said to fulfill the mission to the biggest football party in the world, there is no permanent way because of its dynamic nature, especially in the selection of players and coaches who fill the Garuda squad.

"Everything is very dynamic and open to better changes and nothing permanent, everything is moving dynamically towards the right direction according to the mission," he stressed.

When asked if there had been any discussion on this topic internally at PSSI, Vivin explained that in every meeting, discussing who the best coaches and players were to bring Indonesia to the World Cup, it was always the subject of discussion.

However, he underlined that until now no decision has been made. He only asked all parties to support the steps taken by PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir to realize the mission to the 2026 World Cup.

"The formulation of the best players and coaching teams has always been one of the main topics of discussion every time we meet/meet, but no decision has yet been made. We fully support the general chairman in carrying out this mission," he explained.

Previously, the news of Shin Tae-yong's dismissal was again widely discussed after news emerged from Italian media Tuttosport which was written on December 30, 2024 with the title "Thohir Wants a World Cup: European Coach for Indonesia".

In the news, Tuttosport said that the European coach was more suitable in realizing Erick's mission to make the Indonesian national team worldwide. It is hoped that, continued Tuttosport, this new coach will come before two matches in the third round of the Asian zone 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Australia and Bahrain in March.

Tuttosport argues that Shin Tae-yong's strategy of relying on "physical and running" is no longer "strengthening" is applied in the Garuda team's game, which is now inhabited by many players who play in European competitions.