Nusantara Open 2025 Prepares IDR 2.6 Billion Prize, Presents Local And International Teams

Chairman of the Executive Committee Fary Francis (DOK VOI)

JAKARTA - The 2025 Nusantara Open youth soccer tournament prepares a total prize of IDR 2.6 billion. The U-16 competition (born 2009 '2010) involved the best academy team from Indonesia and internationally.

This event will take place from Monday, August 25 to Friday, September 5, 2025 at the Garudayaksa Football Academy Training Ground, Setu, Bekasi, West Java. The Nusantara Open 2025 is the third edition after it will be held in 2022 and 2023.

Chairman of the Executive Committee, Fary Francis, said the number of prizes was the highest appreciation for the youth competition in Southeast Asia.

"We are ready to entertain guests, present quality matches, and build Indonesian football so that we can compete at the world level as expected by Mr. President Prabowo," said Fary.

The tournament participants consisted of the Elite Pro Academy (EPA) teams, the best Indonesian football academy, and the Chonburi FC academy from Thailand. A total of 16 teams will compete in a four-group format, then continue to the knockout phase. The competition lasted intensively for 12 days.

The first place will win trophies, medals, certificates, and coaching money of Rp. 1 billion. The second place will get Rp. 500 million, third place is Rp. 350 million, while the fourth to 16 ranked team will still receive Rp. 50 million in coaching money.

Garudayaksa Football Academy CEO Dusan Bogdanovic hopes that the tournament supported by Adaro, CFX, Indika, Ithaca, Specs, Le Minerale, and Mitra Keluarga can be a place to prove the talents and diplomacy of Indonesian sports.

According to Dusan, this tournament involves local and international talents coordinated by coach Indra Safri. They will choose talented players so that in the future they can develop into professional players in Indonesia's future," said Dusan.

The Nusantara Open is a tangible manifestation of the long-term football development initiated by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Through the establishment of the Garudayaksa Football Academy and this tournament since 2022, Prabowo emphasized his commitment to coaching young people.

"In the next three years, we have to have a team to appear in the World Cup. Later there will be those who say, impossible. Well, this kind of mentality that we have to kikis," Prabowo said in the first edition of 2022.

At that time, Prabowo's idea was considered too ambitious because Indonesia was still ranked 160th in the world. However, now Indonesia has advanced to the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification in the Asian zone.

The Nusantara Open 2023 became an important milestone when Persib Bandung U-17 as champion and the U-17 national team departed for the Aspire Academy in Qatar to take part in elite coaching.

The 2025 edition also introduced Sin Bin's educational regulations, namely a rule that requires players to leave temporarily after receiving a yellow card. This rule is intended to form self-awareness and evaluation for young players, according to the Garudayaksa FA and PSSI educational missions.

List of participants in the Nusantara Open 2025:

Group A

Garudayaksa FA U16

Dewa United FC U16

PSBB Biak U16

Persija Jakarta U16

Group B

Bhayangkara Precision FC U16

Nova Arianto Academy Pro U16

Persijap Jepara U16

BLISPI Garuda Indonesia U16

Group C

Asti Academy U16

Bali United FC U16

Chonburi FC U16

Malut Selection U16

Group D

Persecond Denpasar U16

PSA Ambon U16

Persib Bandung U16

East Star Atambua U16