KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) chairman Erick Thohir has admitted that there is a glaring gap between his country's League 1 and Malaysia's M-League. And he has vowed to do something about it.
You should take Thohir seriously; he forayed into one of the world's best leagues before.
He used to be the owner and chairman of Italian giants, Inter Milan, who recently won the Serie A title for the 20th time.
Trust Thohir to bring some of his Serie A experience in elevating the Indonesian league.
He stressed that it is imperative for his country to improve its domestic league.
Thohir said he is looking beyond the Indonesian league's competitiveness as he aims to cultivate a stage for its clubs to emerge and fight for regional and continental prizes.
"PSSI remains committed to elevating our league standards," he said.
His rallying cry underlined PSSI's goal to break into Asia's top 15 clubs competition rankings.
In the latest rankings released by the Asian Football Confederation, Indonesia occupy the 28th spot with 14.816 points. Malaysia are 12th with 31.331 while Thailand (49.546) are eighth and the highest in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, former KL City coach Bojan Hodak stamped his mark in Indonesia by leading Persib Bandung to their first league title in a decade following the conclusion of the 2023-2024 season.
