Ahead Of The 2026 World Cup Qualification, PSSI Tightens The Security Of Hotels For Indonesian National Team Players

The Indonesian national team will undergo the 2026 World Cup Qualification (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA - The decision to tighten hotel security where Indonesian national team players stay is carried out by PSSI. This was done ahead of the international trial match and the 2025 World Cup Qualification agenda for the Asian Zone.

Not only collaborating with the hotel, PSSI through Exco member Arya Sinulingga said there were serious steps by cooperating with the police.

"Security (Indonesian National Team) has made a SOP (Security Standard Operating Procedure). The security hotels carried out can be checked, very closely. So, we are working together with security at hotels and security in the police," said Arya Sinulingga in a statement received on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.

This strict security measure was taken clearly to ensure the safety and comfort of the Indonesian national team players. You see, with the high public interest in the Garuda Squad, the attention is currently on the players.

Not infrequently, fans are even willing to come to the place where the players stay for a long time to watch their idols. If the time to greet fans is too often, it will have an impact on the rest time of the players.

Regarding tight security, Arya said that currently it has only been implemented around hotels where players are staying. For other public areas that are often visited by the Indonesian national team, such as airports, it is still running as usual.

"Until now, we see that it has not become a concern because fans who pursue players (at the airport) can be said to be only two to five people. It's still normal."

"If there are dozens of people, such as K-Pop artists, even hundreds, that's different, yes. If only two to five people don't be too paranoid. So, it's still normal," he said.

Security is carried out as an effort to maintain the condition of the Garuda Squad which will undergo an important match.

In June 2024, Shin Tae-yong's team is scheduled to play an international trial match against Tanzania on June 2, 2024.

After that, the Garuda Squad will also compete in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Iraq (June 6, 2024) and the Philippines (June 11, 2024).

In that match they only needed one win to ensure they qualified for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Currently, the Indonesian national team ranks second in Group F with a collection of seven points, five points adrift of Iraq at the top of the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.