Totality of Leading the Game in Indonesia, Yudai Yamamoto Also Learns Umpatan

JAKARTA - Yudai Yamamoto officially served as a foreign referee to lead the 2025/2026 Super League competition. As a form of totality in his career, Yudai even determined to learn swear words in Indonesian to understand the situation.

"As a referee, of course, if you get inappropriate words, you have the potential to be punished. From myself, it is a must to learn Indonesian to maintain the order of the match," said the referee who has led six Super League matches.

Yamamoto was introduced as a permanent foreign referee starting from the second round of the 2025/2026 Super League. The 42-year-old referee is also projected to serve until the 2026/2027 Super League season.

The referee, who has held a FIFA license since 2011, has a total of 22 yellow cards from his pocket. However, no red cards were given to the players.

When asked about his label of being unfaithful to give a red card during the match, Yudai admitted that he tried to be objective in every moment of the match and always be careful in making decisions.

"I'm a soft person, but on the field there must be a line between the referee and the players. I have to be able to make the right decisions."

"It just so happens that there are no red cards (from the six 2025/2026 Super League matches). Yes, it's just a coincidence," he explained the reason for not issuing a red card in Indonesia.

Yamamoto argues that the character of the match in the Indonesian League is different from the Japanese League, including the Australian League, the Polish League, to the World Cup Qualification match.

"The game in the Japanese League is more consistent in the tempo of the match. While in Indonesia, this aspect tends to be inconsistent," he said.