Yoshimi Ogawa Admits Super League Competition Needs Permanent Foreign Referee

JAKARTA - The chairman of the PSSI Referee Committee, Yoshimi Ogawa, admitted that the Super League competition requires foreign referees with permanent status. This is to improve the quality of the highest level competition.

Currently, the Super League has used foreign referee services, but it is only limited to providing examples and improving the quality of local referees.

"In Japan, based on my experience, they still use foreign referees today. Usually from Germany or other European countries, then there are also from South America."

"That's why (foreign referees) should be continued. One day maybe we need a permanent foreign referee, but now it's only in the learning stage for local referees," said Yoshimi Ogawa in Jakarta, Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

In addition, Ogawa also said that the ability of local Indonesian referees would increase in addition to the presence of foreign referees and the application of VAR.

The application of VAR in Super League (League 1) and Championship (League 2) was also welcomed by him. According to Ogawa, this is a tangible form that Indonesia is serious about improving the quality of referees with technology.

"I'm from Japan, but in J-League, VAR only exists in the first level league. No one has implemented it in the second level league. That's the reason we respect PSSI and I-League's decisions," said Ogawa.

Ogawa highlighted the percentage accuracy of referee decisions in the Super League which is close to 90 percent. He targets this figure to increase above 90 percent in the following seasons.

"Currently, the accuracy is at 89 percent, so the wrong decision is 11 percent. What we need to focus on is 90, 91, 92, and 93 percent (of the right decision)," he said.

He also conveyed that the level of accuracy of referees in the Championship with VAR reached 94 percent in its first implementation in the 2025/2026 season from three match weeks.

"Basically VAR only helps referees to minimize mistakes. We continue to provide education every week with referees," he said.