In what could be one of the strangest cases of coincidences in football history, Filipino international Christian Rontini found himself unemployed after being released by Liga 1 Indonesia strugglers Madura United, only hours after helping the Philippines eliminate Indonesia from the 2024/25 AFF Championship.
Rontini played a total of 20 minutes with 11 additional minutes from injury time in that fateful match, coming on as a 70th minute substitution for Scott Woods. During the match, Rontini was involved in an altercation with Victor Dethan where he avoided being sent-off in the dying minutes of the match, despite having head-butted the PSM Makassar winger to the ground.
This effectively earned Rontini the ire from Indonesian supporters and in one of the most haunting cases of perfect timing in football, Madura United announced that they and Rontini had parted ways only hours after the match, thus creating the impression that the Laskar Sapeh Kerrab had terminated Rontini’s contract out of anger towards what he had done towards Dethan, and to an extent, the Indonesia national team and the people of Indonesia.
Some then started to make comparisons between Rontini and Ahn Jung-hwan, the South Korean striker who was famously sacked from Italian side Perugia following his winning goal against the Italy national team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
However, in reality there were reports suggesting that Rontini’s departure from Madura was something that has been planned before the AFF Championship had even started. This was suggested by Rontini’s peripheral presence in Madura United’s squad throughout the first half of the Liga 1 season, making only six appearances from Madura United’s 16 league matches so far, albeit he has so far impressed with two assists.
There’s also the fact that Madura United had willingly allowed Rontini to link up with the Philippines national team, despite Liga 1 matches were still being played throughout the duration of the AFF Championship. If Rontini had been a key member of the Laskar Sapeh Kerrab squad, then such leniency won’t be given to him.
Madura United’s current financial status could be another contributor. Since club president Achanul Qosasi came under investigation for corruption by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and was subsequently arrested by the police, all of Madura United’s sponsors from last season – companies linked to Qosasi – decided to withdrew their support, understandably out of fear of further scrutiny from both the KPK and the police. This meant that Madura United’s financial power has been significantly reduced for the 2024/25 campaign, prompting a wholesale release of the club’s key players from last season to not only reduce the wage bill, but also to keep the club afloat, effectively turning them from title contenders to relegation battlers.
Regardless of reason, Rontini’s stock within the Indonesian market remains high as rumors started to link him with league leaders Persebaya Surabaya. The fact that he’s married to the daughter of legendary Indonesia national team striker Cristian Gonzales also meant that he would probably stick around the archipelago nation for the next phase of his career for familial reasons.