2014 Indonesia Super League - List of Foreign Players

The 2nd transfer window of the 2014 Indonesia Super League (ISL) was closed on June 6. That means there will be no more new player to be registered for the rest of the season. Several players have switched clubs. Some of them even just came and went almost immediately. Among those players are, of course, foreign players.

Here is the list of foreign players in the 2014 ISL. All 96 of them, including players who are no longer with the club, up to the closure of the 2nd transfer window.


This season, a new format of foreign players’ eligibility is applied. The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) and PT. Liga Indonesia as league operator have decided to replace last season’s “(3+2)=5” format and use “[(3)+1]=4” format instead. The new format has more complicated rules, as it is applied to provide not only practical, but also technical parameters. The rules are:

1. A club is able to sign the maximum number of 4 foreign players, with the composition of only 3 players from non-AFC countries can be signed.
2. Only 3 foreign players from the maximum 4 can be registered in the match’s lineup as starting player and/or substitute player.

The new format is applied for several reasons. In my opinion, the reasons are: First, to give more opportunities to local players, especially the young ones, to develop by adding more playing minutes for their experiences. Second, to reduce clubs’ expenditures in terms of salary, due to customary high cost of foreign players. Third, to avoid more cases of clubs’ failure to fulfill their employee’s rights. Lastly, I believe the new format is applied to conform to the AFC rules in their international competitions.

Several clubs chose to play it safe by only signing 3 foreign players rather than 4. Other clubs believe that they should utilize the maximum number, although only 3 are allowed to be in the lineup.

Chart 1 - Number of Foreign Players in the 2014 ISL
click on image to enlarge

East Zone has more foreign players with 50, while West Zone has 45. Foreigners from CAF Member Associations (MAs) are dominating the number with 41 in total, followed by CONMEBOL MAs’ players with 26. Unlike the last 2 seasons, foreigners from AFC MAs this season decreased to only 18 in total. With no foreigners from OFC and CONCACAF MAs, UEFA MAs contribute the least with only 10 in total.

Chart 2 - Foreign Players from CAF MAs
in the 2014 ISL
click on image to enlarge

Chart 3 - Foreign Players from CONMEBOL MAs
in the 2014 ISL
click on image to enlarge

Cameroon became the most foreigner-contributing country this season. There are 17 Cameroonians take part in the 2014 ISL, 6 in West Zone and 11 in East Zone. Argentina came on second with 9 players, 5 in West and 4 in East. The top 3 is ended by Brazil on third with 8 players, 5 in West and 3 in East.

Chart 4 - Foreign Players from AFC MAs
in the 2014 ISL
click on image to enlarge

Chart 5 - Foreign Players from UEFA MAs
in the 2014 ISL
click on image to enlarge

South Korea tops the category as AFC MA with 6 players, 3 in each zones. While, the number of foreign players from South East Asian countries is reducing in the recent years. Only 3 players from the ASEAN Football Federation MAs take part in ISL this season, 1 from Singapore and 2 from Australia. 2 of them are no longer involved with the team after the 2nd transfer window was closed.

3 Montenegrins put their country on top of the category as UEFA MA. All of them have key role for their respective teams. Slovakia is behind Montenegro with 2 players, but Roman Chemelo didn’t even stay for more than 2 matches with PSM on the first half of the season.

Chart 6 - Foreign Players in the 2014 ISL by Position
click on image to enlarge

Most of the foreign players are offense-minded. There are 38 foreigners who play as forward, and among them is the league’s current top scorer, Kenmogne Emmanuel.

Only 2 foreign goalkeepers this season, Yoo Jae-Hoon (South Korea, Persipura) and Dennis Romanovs (Latvia, Pelita Bandung Raya). No surprise for the fact, though, as there were very few foreigners stood between the sticks of ISL contestants over the years. If you can name one foreign goalkeeper who have played for an ISL team other than the previous 2 names and Shintaweechai “Kosin” Hathairatanakool (Thailand, used to play for Persib), you’re awesome!

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Related entry: 2014 Indonesia Super League - Transfer Activities

Note: All data is sourced from ligaindonesia.co.id