State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi welcomed the decision of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) to dismiss national football team coach Patrick Kluivert following the Indonesian national team's failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Prasetyo also asked PSSI to immediately find a replacement to fill the vacant coaching seat.
"The government welcomes the PSSI's decision to dismiss coach Patrick Kluivert. We will find a replacement as soon as possible," Prasetyo said in a video statement received on Thursday.
Prasetyo assessed that the decision was part of an evaluation for the progress of national football.
He said the spirit of building the Indonesian National Team must not diminish even though it failed to qualify for the World Cup.
The government, he said, remains confident in efforts to improve the quality of the national team so that the dream of appearing at the four-yearly football event can be realized in the future.
"We must not give up. We must remain confident and strive to improve the quality of our national team. Hopefully, one day, the dream of 287 million Indonesians, for our national team to compete in the World Cup, will come true," Prasetyo said.
It is known that PSSI officially fired Patrick Kluivert and the Dutch coaching team after they failed to lead the Garuda team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
In the senior national team, Kluivert is assisted by several coaches from the Land of Windmills, including Alex Pastoor and Denny Landzaat as assistant coaches.
"The All Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) and the Indonesian National Team Coaching Team have officially agreed to terminate their collaboration early through a mutual termination mechanism," the PSSI official website wrote on Thursday.
"This agreement was signed between PSSI and the parties in the coaching team who were previously bound by a two-year cooperation contract," the official statement added.
This dismissal occurred five days after Indonesia's 0-1 defeat to Iraq in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers for the Asian zone at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday WIB.
