JAKARTA - General Manager (GM) of the PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB) Competition and Operations, Takeyuki Oya, admits that Indonesia has three teams that actually deserve to compete at the Asian level. The three teams are Persib Bandung, Persija Jakarta, and Bali United.
"Of course the club is Persib Bandung as the champion of Liga 1. Then, there is Persija Jakarta and Bali United. It is a club that should be more competitive than Asia," said Takeyuki Oya in Jakarta after officially holding his new position.
The AFC currently implements three levels of inter-club tournaments, namely the Champions League Elite, Champions League Two, and Challenge League.
However, of the three, more than a decade no Indonesian representatives were involved.
The last time there was Arema FC who had survived in the top level tournament in the 2011 Champions League. However, after that, representatives from Indonesia were only able to move on to the second and third levels.
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"In my opinion, the top team of the Indonesian League should play in a better tournament in the AFC. Now there is an ACL (AFC Champions League) Elite, ACL 2, and ACL Challenge. However, there should be a team that can go to the ACL Elite playoffs," he said.
From the statement about the chances of the Indonesian team that should be able to compete, Oya realized that Indonesia is a country that has great potential in the football sector.
Therefore, armed with knowledge from his experience as GM Media Promotion and the Department of International Business and GM Bisnis Global J-League, Oya is interested in exploring and improving the Indonesian League coefficients.
"My main reasons are two. First, great potential (in football). This country has a large population that likes football."
"Then, the second reason is Pak Erick's commitment (Thohir/Ketum PSSI) and Pak Ferry (Paulus/Managing Director of PT LIB) to advance this country's football," he said.
Before officially holding his new position in the ranks of PT LIB, Oya even admitted that he had been approached by other Southeast Asian countries.
Because he was interested in the potential for Indonesian football, he decided his choice.
"I spoke with several other countries in Southeast Asia, but only Indonesia has a commitment to the development of football and it really inspires me," he said.
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