Pressure on Zainudin Amali and Indra Sjafri Increases after Indonesia U-23 Failed at the 2025 SEA Games

JAKARTA - The failure of the Indonesian U-23 National Team at the 2025 SEA Games, returning empty-handed without medals, made the Indonesian football people demand accountability.

The reason is that Garuda Muda even failed to meet the silver medal target given by the Government, let alone defend the gold medal won at the 2023 SEA Games.

Football observer, Binder Singh, publicly holds PSSI Deputy Chairman Zainuddin Amali responsible for the failure of the Indonesian U-23 National Team at the 2025 SEA Games.

In his latest podcast, Saturday, December 13, 2025, Binder assessed Amali as the most appropriate party to be asked for an explanation because he was the direct supervisor of Garuda Muda.

Binder highlighted the Instagram post of PSSI Executive Committee (Exco) Member Arya Sinuligga, who apologized for not understanding the Indonesian National Team's affairs for the 2025 SEA Games.

According to Binder, this statement is a strong signal that the Indonesian National Team's affairs for the 2025 SEA Games are under the control of Zainuddin Amali.

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In addition, Binder emphasized that the selection of Indra Sjafri as the coach of the Indonesian U-23 National Team was also a decision by Zainuddin Amali. In fact, the target of the gold medal which ultimately ended in a total failure was said to come from the former Minister of Sports, unlike the target of the Government through the Ministry of Sports and Youth which only imposed a silver medal.

The fact that the Indonesian U-23 National Team failed to win a medal, even being eliminated in the group stage, was considered a non-technical failure that must be explained openly by Amali.

"Indra Sjafri has stated that he is technically responsible. Now the question is, who is non-technically responsible?" said Binder.

He assessed that there should be an intensive discussion between the PSSI Deputy Secretary General and the coach regarding crucial strategies, including the decisive match against Myanmar which requires a victory with a certain goal margin.

The unpreparedness of the strategy, the selection of a coach who has been the subject of public debate since the beginning, to the utilization of players such as Ivar Jenner who are considered not to be of capacity, is said to be evidence of weak planning. Ironically, Amali as the head of the Indonesian U-23 National Team did not come and accompany the team in Thailand!

Binder called this failure as something shameful, especially Indonesia U-23 defeated the Philippines.

However, he emphasized that this criticism was not to bring down the Indonesian U-23 National Team, but to demand accountability.

"If Erick Thohir can apologize for the failure of the Indonesian senior national team, then the public has the right to wait for who from PSSI is responsible for the failure of the 2025 SEA Games," said Binder.

According to Binder, the evaluation should not stop at the coach. The public is waiting for Zainuddin Amali's courage to appear and explain the failure of the Indonesian U-23 National Team, which is rumored to be full of talent, including diaspora players, but instead returns empty-handed.

Not only Binder, Save Our Soccer (SOS) Founder, Akmal Marhali, assessed that this failure must be a momentum for a total evaluation, including the responsibility for the U-23 National Team, Zainudin Amali, who has carried the gold target since the beginning and appointed Indra Sjafri as coach even though the team's preparation was recognized in various media. very short.

The failure of the Indonesian U-23 National Team to defend the gold medal at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games is not only a bad result on the field, but also a mirror of fundamental problems in governance and policy making.

Akmal reminded that this failure marked a dark history. This is the first time that the Indonesian National Team has failed to qualify for the SEA Games semifinals since 2009, or the sixth time since participating in the SEA Games in 1977.

Interestingly, of the six failures, three occurred when Thailand hosted in 1985, 2007, and now 2025.

"This is not just a normal loss. This is a loud alarm," said Akmal when contacted on Sunday, December 14, 2025, in Jakarta.

In terms of coaching, Akmal called this failure Indra Sjafri's worst phase in the SEA Games. After winning silver in 2019 and gold in 2023, the coach from West Sumatra now has to accept the bitter reality of being eliminated in the group stage.

In fact, his track record at the age group level is quite brilliant - winner of the 2013 and 2024 AFF U-19 Cup, winner of the 2019 AFF U-22 Cup, to the 2023 SEA Games gold.

"Everyone has their time. Now, it seems that we are entering a dark era for Indra Sjafri after a long time full of star achievements," said Akmal.

However, Akmal emphasized that evaluation should not stop at the coach. He highlighted Zainudin Amali's recognition that the Indonesian U-23 National Team's preparations for the 2025 SEA Games were only a few months, far from the 2023 SEA Games which was built through a process of almost three years.

"The gold target is announced, but the foundation of the preparation is far from ideal. This is a contradiction of policies that must be accounted for," said Akmal.

According to him, fluctuations in performance are normal in football, especially for developing countries like Indonesia. Even big countries like Italy can fail to qualify for the World Cup in a row.

However, precisely because of that, the evaluation must be carried out thoroughly and honestly, not defensively.

"Evaluation is not only changing coaches, but rebuilding the collapsed foundation to be more solid," he said.

Akmal encouraged a thorough evaluation starting from coaches, players, managers, to team managers, to find the real root of the problem.

He also emphasized the importance of consistency in the philosophy of Indonesian football according to the 2045 road map towards the Golden Era so that the direction of the development of the Indonesian National Team does not change every time the coach changes.

"Now is the time to mend and take wisdom. When it is dark, the light comes. However, the light only comes if we dare to be honest and responsible," he said.

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