Nusantara Open 2025 Opened By Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Taufik Hidayat
JAKARTA – Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Taufik Hidayat officially opened the U-16 youth soccer tournament, the Nusantara Open 2025. Sixteen teams participated in the tournament.
The opening ceremony was held on Monday, August 25, 2025, at the Garudayaksa Football Academy Training Ground in Setu, Bekasi, West Java. Taufik Hidayat performed a symbolic kickoff.
Taufik stated that the Nusantara Open tournament is part of the development of young talent, in line with President Prabowo Subianto's directive, which aims to enhance Indonesian soccer's future.
"What I always emphasize to the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) is that we must continue to develop from an early age, as we know that character development is crucial for skill development. Hopefully, this will yield positive results for PSSI in the future," he said.
The 2025 Nusantara Open is the third edition, having previously been held in 2022 and 2023. In addition to academy teams from Indonesia, the event also involves the Chonburi FC U-16 academy from Thailand.
The Indonesian teams participating in the 2025 Nusantara Open are from the Elite Pro Academy (EPA) and other top Indonesian football academies. They will compete in a four-group format, then proceed to a knockout phase.
The Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), Erick Thohir, stated that his organization strongly supports youth events like the Nusantara Open. He stated that developing Indonesian football is a multi-stakeholder task.
"Developing football cannot be done by PSSI alone; football stakeholders must work together. Who? The government, the private sector, PSSI, and schools—we will do it all," said Erick.
The 2025 Nusantara Open offers a total prize pool of IDR 2.6 billion. This is the highest prize pool for a youth tournament in Southeast Asia.
The first-place winner will receive a trophy, medal, certificate, and Rp 1 billion in prize money. Second-place will receive Rp 500 million, third-place Rp 350 million, while teams ranked fourth through 16th will still receive Rp 50 million in prize money.
List of Participants in the 2025 Nusantara Open
Group A
- Garudayaksa FA U-16
- Dewa United FC U-16
- PSBB Biak U-16
- Persija Jakarta U-16
Group B
- Bhayangkara Presisi FC U-16
- Nova Arianto Academy Pro U-16
- Persijap Jepara U-16
- BLISPI Garuda Indonesia U-16
Group C
- Asti Academy U-16
- Bali United FC U-16
- Chonburi FC U-16
- Malut Selection U-16
Group D
- Perseden Denpasar U-16
- PSA Ambon U-16
- Persib Bandung U-16
- Bintang Timur Atambua U-16