Friday 21 December 2018, 15:32

FIFA Forward boosts local refereeing and coaching in Indonesia

  • Football Association of Indonesia launches FILANESIA to boost refereeing and coaching

  • With help of the FIFA Forward Football Development Programme, progress is being made

  • Participation of women referees has increased by 30 per cent

Considered as a nexus of the peoples and cultures of Oceania and mainland Asia, Indonesians have proven to be extremely passionate about football in a country where the beautiful game is the number one sport and where the Liga 1 (professional league), established in the 2008/09 season, is getting stronger every year.

PSSI (Football Association of Indonesia) has set up some challenging goals for meeting the ever-increasing demand of the 200 million strong football nation for high quality football. In a strategy named FILANESIA (National Football Development Programme), that spans until 2045, the focal point is the capacity building of coaches and referees.

To achieve this objective, FIFA Forward and PSSI started a partnership to develop both refereeing and coaching programmes in the Asian archipelago, which enables the federation to sustain the professionalisation of their referees and coaches.

With the support and assistance of a refereeing-specialist delegation from FIFA, the needs of the local refereeing and coaching representatives along with clear goals, were drafted. PSSI went on to adopt a new strategy which includes, among other things, advancing the level of refereeing to the highest possible standards.

"FILANESIA (National Football Development Programme) is a capacity building for our coaches and players," PSSI Secretary General Ms. Ratu Tisha explained. "The number of coaches has tripled over the last year and the number of domestic instructors is ten times higher than before. We have also established 18 Elite Pro academies for Liga 1 clubs that focus on U-16 player development. Secondly, a referee development programme was initiated to set up a new Referee Management System and operation cycle. Over 1,207 referees were selected for a quality workshop and a new management system has been set up for the referee department, starting from administration to an education team."

To achieve this important endeavour, the PSSI used the help of the FIFA Forward Development Programme, in order to ensure that all referees receive the necessary training they need to enable them to take part in international competitions.

The elements of a strong referee programme are incorporated into education, evaluation and communication, which are PSSI’s main focal points for the project. Coaches are key to providing education, evaluation and feedback and conducting annual assessment courses; instructor courses are also a paramount element of this strategy.

Hiring experienced international assessors to observe league referees and national referees is also an important aspect since internationally-hired assessors will also mentor and monitor the new Indonesian assessors.

"FIFA Forward’s support is the foundation of PSSI's football development, focusing on capacity building for coaches, referees and players to reach our long-term target in 2045, starting from 2024 as the first milestone and 2034 as the second milestone," said PSSI Vice President Mr. Joko Driyono. "PSSI would like to thank the full support of FIFA's Member Association Development and Regional Development Office, who were of great help to us during the process of planning and execution. We realise that there is still so much room for improvement and PSSI is thankful to FIFA, who always supports us in this long journey to reach our vision."

Eventually the aim will be to create two categories of referees and coaches (assessors and instructors, national and regional coaches). This will undoubtedly boost local refereeing and coaching in the lead up to many international competitions.

2018 FILANESIA programme in numbers:

  • Over 100 courses have been held across Indonesia, starting from PSSI D License up to AFC Pro

  • As a result, the number of coaches has tripled within a year

  • PSSI established 18 Elite Pro academies that train coaches and implement the FILANESIA curriculum to young players

  • The participation of women referees has increased by 30 per cent

  • 162 fitness and technical tests have been conducted to strengthen the physical condition of the referees

  • For the first time, one of Indonesia's top referees was a part of the AFC Elite Referee Panel

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