PSSI Secretary General Not Sure FIFA Will Accept Bahrain's Request To Play In A Neutral Place

FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, is predicted not to ignore Bahrain's request (doc. FIFA).

PSSI Secretary General, Yunus Nusi, admitted that he was not sure if FIFA would grant the request of the Bahrain Football Federation (BFA) to play in neutral places when meeting the Indonesian national team.

This statement was made by Yunus after meeting with Menpora Dito Ariotedjo at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Monday, October 21, 2024.

According to Yunus, even though the AFC President is Bahrain, FIFA will not arbitrarily decide the case.

"The president of the AFC (derived from Bahrain), but that could be something dangerous for the AFC. From that, I'm not sure FIFA will agree (the request to move locations to matches) because we know and I've been in football for 15 years," said Yunus Nusi.

"Just the president of FIFA from Italy and it is impossible for him to dare to take sides because football is being highlighted by the world," said PSSI Secretary General again.

Previously, BFA made an open statement asking FIFA to move the Indonesian national team versus Bahrain match in March 2025 to a neutral place for security reasons.

This was submitted by BFA because of the emergence of death threats from Indonesian netizens to Bahrain players and coaches. This threat occurred after the match ended 2-2 in Bahrain in the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

The match against Bahrain on October 10, 2024, became controversial because the Bahrain equalizer goal occurred in the 90+9 minute. In fact, the official time given by the referee was six minutes of injury time.

This triggered a strong action from Indonesian netizens. Some have hacked the official BFA website and changed the street names in Bahrain with the words "AFC Mafia".

Regarding this, PSSI and the Government guarantee that Bahrain will be safe while in Jakarta. Security will be increased as long as Bahrain undergoes preparations and matches in Jakarta.