Erick Thohir: From a media tycoon to the "flag" of the Indonesian football revolution

Erick Thohir was born in 1970, started from Mahaka Group, he once made a name for himself when he owned Inter Milan. Currently the Minister and Chairman of PSSI, Thohir is rewriting the history of football in the land of ten thousand islands with bold decisions.

He currently holds the position of Minister of State-owned Enterprises and Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association. He is also the founder of the Mahaka Media Group, and has also served as the owner and Chairman of the football clubs Inter Milan and D.C. United. He is also the co-owner of Oxford United and Persis Solo, along with Kaesang Pangarep, the son of President Joko Widodo. He also served as President of the Indonesian Olympic Committee. In 2019, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He is currently a member of the FIBA Central Executive Committee.

After returning to Indonesia, he and his colleagues founded the Mahaka Media Group. In 2001, Mahaka Group successfully bought Republika, the largest Islamic newspaper in Indonesia at the time. He received support from his own father, Kompas newspaper founder Jakob Oetama and Jawa Pos newspaper founder Dahlan Iskan to run the newspaper. In addition, he is also the founder of the Darma Bakti Mahaka Foundation.

In 2011, he co-founded the tvOne media network and internet news site VIVA.co.id with Anindya Bakrie. In 2014, he participated in the reform project and became the CEO of ANTV channel since 2019.

In 2018, incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo elected Erick Thohir as the head of his re-election campaign in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election.

In 2019, he and 10 other members were elected as members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2023, he was elected President of the Indonesian Football Association.

In May 2023, the famous news agency AFP said: "Indonesia is too bad football compared to its inherent strength". That comment is based on the abundant resources that Indonesia possesses. With a population of 275 million people, they are the most populous country in Southeast Asia and the third most populous country in Asia, behind only China and India.

Among them, more than 70% of people consider football to be the king sport. The reality shows how passionate Indonesian fans are. Their stadiums are always filled right in matches in the 2nd and 3rd divisions. Indonesian football should have developed a lot stronger, instead of only ranking 3rd, or 4th in Southeast Asia. For a long time, they accepted to be behind Thailand, Vietnam and even behind Malaysia.

One of the stains that caused Indonesian football to slow down was FIFA's penalty in 2015. At that time, FIFA banned Indonesia from participating in international tournaments because of excessive interference by the country's government. The ban was lifted after only 1 year, but it was still enough to make this football struggle for a long time afterwards.

In recent years, violenc.e and political troubles continue to plague Indonesian football. In that context, the appearance of Erick Thohir is a big turning point. A lot of decisions have been made by this 53-year-old billionaire since taking the chair of PSSI in March 2023. The most important of which is the restart of the Indonesian player's naturalization project.

PSSI no longer naturalizes "indiscriminate" players like in previous years. Instead, they hunt down outstanding talents with Indonesian roots around the world and invite them to join the country's national team. All of the recently naturalized names carry Indonesian bloo.d, with the "farthest" people also having an Indonesian grandfathe.r or grandmothe.r.

The problem is that PSSI will not be able to naturalize stars such as Ivar Jenner, Justin Hubner, Rafael Struick, or the latest Thom Haye and Ragnar Oratmangoen without Erick Thohir. The billionaire's position has long extended far beyond Indonesia. More than 10 years ago, he broke into American sports - which is extremely difficult. At that time, Erick Thohir bought a 15% stake in the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team for $21 million and bought a majority stake in DC United for $50 million.

In 2013, Erick Thohir acquired Inter Milan - the team with the second largest number of fans in Asia, especially in Indonesia and China. He steered Inter Milan for 5 years before divesting in 2018. During that time, Erick Thohir also built a reputation in many other sports, becoming a real "giant" in the global sports industry.

Up to this point, Erick Thohir still owns Oxford United in England, Persis Solo in Indonesia and Satria Muda Baseball Club. With his inherent reputation and ambition, Erick Thohir had no opponent in the race for the PSSI chairmanship at the beginning of last year. Thanks to the aforementioned long-term position, Erick Thohir easily persuaded players of Indonesian origin to return to contribute to their homeland. He usually approached and had dinner with these players and their families to talk about his plans. Almost no one refused.

Last year, Erick Thohir faced a common problem in Indonesian football: allowing politics to intervene too deeply. At that time, Indonesia had prepared everything for the 2023 U20 World Cup, but was stripped of the hosting rights by FIFA because one of the host cities refused to host Israel. Erick Thohir had to run, run, and meet Gianni Infantino directly to solve the problem.

Although Erick Thohir could not help Indonesia regain the right to host the 2023 U20 World Cup, he helped the country's football avoid heavy fines from FIFA. Not only that, they also helped Indonesia win the U17 World Cup in December 2023 - as a compensation for FIFA.

Before each major tournament, Erick Thohir has set very specific goals for coach Shin Tae-yong and his students. Those goals are not simple. He even directly said that he would only extend it to coach Shin Tae-yong if Indonesia passes the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup and reaches the quarterfinals of the 2024 Asian U23. The "top door" position of this billionaire is very remarkable. It should be known that Shin Tae-yong is a highly sought-after coach, but Indonesia is still willing to push him out on the road if he does not complete the goal.

Earlier this year, Erick Thohir even announced that the goal of Indonesia U23 is to reach the semifinals of the 2024 Asian U23 and win tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics. At that time, even Indonesian fans felt that his words were too "crazy", while fans in Southeast Asia laughed at him. However, time has given the most accurate answer.

Erick Thohir once again contributed to the success of U23 Indonesia when helping PSSI summon a series of stars such as Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Justin Hubner, Ivar Jenner or Rafael Struick. In particular, Heerenveen even recalled Tjoe-A-On after the group stage, but finally accepted to give up this defender to Indonesia U23.

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