The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is now well and underway since July 20th, with Southeast Asia being well-represented in the competition through the participation of both Vietnam and the Philippines. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Indonesia’s U-19 women’s national team made it all the way into the semifinals of the 2023 AFF U-19 Women’s Championship, where they were soundly thrashed 7-1 by Thailand – a solid testament that the Garuda Pertiwi are still leagues away from matching their regional peers.
With prejudice towards those who play the sport, women’s football isn’t exactly as popular as men’s football within Indonesia. The sport is severely losing out to the likes of basketball, volleyball, and badminton in terms of being played amongst Indonesian women. Even flag football, a watered down version of American football that is often played as a hobby sport, has attracted more female interest compared to your regular association football.
It wasn’t until 2017 that Indonesia has its own official women’s football association underneath the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) and it wasn’t until 2019 that the country has its competitive league for women, the Liga 1 Putri.
Prior to that, women’s football in Indonesia has been primarily played through the Pertiwi Cup, an amateur competition contested not by clubs, but by teams representing provincial associations. The Liga 1 Putri was established with the purpose of giving female footballers the opportunity to compete in a professional environment as well as elevating the quality of Indonesia’s women’s national team.
The 2019 Liga 1 Putri was well-received, with 10 out of the 18 teams participating in the men’s league taking part in it with their own women’s department. From Arema Putri to Bali United Women to TIRA-Persikabo Kartini to Galanita Persipura, these 10 teams contributed to the current backbone of the Indonesia women’s national team, with a number of stars establishing themselves through the competition.
Persib Putri emerged as the inaugural winners of the Liga 1 Putri, beating TIRA-Persikabo Kartini 6-1 on aggregate. The Putri Biru‘s star defender Reva Octaviani was named as player of the tournament, while TIRA-Persikabo Kartini striker Insyafadya Salsabillah was crowned top-scorer for her 14 goals throughout the competition – the duo were only a few of the many female Indonesian footballers who were benefited by the presence of the Liga 1 Putri.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the PSSI to cancel the 2020 edition of the tournament, while a lack of interest and funding after the pandemic meant that the 2021, 2022, and 2023 editions of the Liga 1 Putri were scrapped as well.
Despite this, the 2021/22 season saw the Pertiwi Cup being resumed after a pandemic-enforced hiatus, which saw a mix of former Liga 1 Putri sides (Persib Putri, Arema Putri, Persija Putri), the women’s football department of lower league sides (PS Bengkulu Putri, PS Bangka Putri, Persipon Putri, Toli Putri), women’s football academies, and teams formed by provincial associations battling it out for the title. In the end it was Toli Putri who clinched the title, beating PS Bangka Putri 3-1 in the final, while former Liga 1 Putri champs Persib Putri crashed out in the group stages.
The PSSI have stated that they will hold a Pertiwi Cup in the 2023 season, but no further details were given.
The Indonesia women’s national team also saw some activity in all age groups during the Liga 1 Putri hiatus. Other than the aforementioned 7-1 thrashing of the U-19s this year, the Indonesia senior women’s national team somehow made it into the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, where they, as predicted, were the punching bags of the tournament. Most notably, Indonesia lost 18-0 to an Australia side containing Sam Kerr, undoubtedly one of the best female footballers of the current generation.
The Garuda Pertiwi also suffered heavy defeats to Thailand – a regional powerhouse in terms of women’s football – and the Philippines, who were bolstered by a host of naturalized players who were trained in the United States collegiate system.
It was worth noting that Indonesia were somewhat fortuitous in both qualifying for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup as well as in their run at the 2023 AFF U-19 Women’s Championship. In qualifying for the Asian Cup, Indonesia only had to face-off against Singapore, as both Iraq and North Korea withdrew from the qualifiers due to the pandemic. In the AFF U-19 Women’s Championship, Indonesia were fortunate enough to be drawn in a group containing Cambodia, Laos, and Timor Leste, who were roughly equal or below Indonesia in terms of women’s football. The young Garuda Pertiwi managed to avoid the likes of Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines until the knockouts, where Indonesia were soundly thrashed by the Chabakaew of Thailand.
During these outings, Indonesia drafted in players from their respective provincial associations due to the absence of a proper competitive league. Some players were also drafted in from their clubs but due to a lack of competitive action, their rustiness was quite apparent.
It really shows how far women’s football are lagging behind in Indonesia when a local amateur women’s flag football tournament in Jakarta was more properly managed with a consistent schedule, sponsorship and kit deals, as well as an established media presence compared to official competitions sanctioned by the PSSI themselves, which has seen multiple delays and cancellations as well as minimal media coverage.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom in the Indonesian women’s football scene.
Young defender Shalika Aurelia made history in January 2022 when she became the first Indonesian female footballer to play abroad, signing for Roma CF who were then playing at the second tier of the Italian women’s football pyramid.
Shalika was then followed by Zahra Muzdalifah, arguably one of Indonesia’s most noteworthy female footballers. Zahra had a brief stint at English side South Shields Women in 2022, before moving to the WE League in Japan with newly-promoted Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Ladies.
There’s also a considerable wealth of talent in the current pool of footballers at the Indonesia national women’s team. Other than the aforementioned Reva and Insyafadya, there’s also goalkeeper Yolanda Krismonica, defender Shafira Ika Putri, strikers Baiq Amiatun and Sheva Imut, as well as rising talent Claudia Scheunemann, niece of former Persema Malang head coach Timo Scheunemann. Apart from Baiq, who’s hitting her 30s, all of the aforementioned players are in their early to mid-20s, approaching the prime of their lives with a fruitful career still very much a possibility for them.
With the election of Erick Thohir as the new PSSI chairman, it is interesting to see how women’s football will go underneath his leadership. With the Liga 1 Putri remaining in hiatus this season and with minimal info regarding the upcoming Pertiwi Cup, much better things are expected from the federation should they wish to elevate the women’s game to be on equal footing with their male counterparts.