The youth football competition in Indonesia is back in action after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. In fact, international-level youth football tournaments can now be held in Indonesia once again.

The Transtama-Garuda International Cup 2 (Transtama-GIC 2) tournament will soon be held at the ASIOP Training Ground, Sentul. The event is scheduled to take place from June 30th to July 3rd. This tournament is special because it will be participated in by foreign teams.

A total of 32 football academies from five Southeast Asian countries are ready to show their skills in the Transtama – Garuda International Cup 2.

The Garuda International Cup is a continuation of a tournament that was previously held in Bandung in 2015. At that time, the participants were only the best academies from three countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. In the second edition, the participants increased to include Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines.

The Chairperson of the GIC 2 Committee, Runie Virgiani, believes that the Transtama-Garuda International Cup 2, which carries the tagline ‘The Season Is Coming, Lets Have Fun’, will be a program that can make Indonesia proud and sustainable.

“We want to prove that Indonesia can also make quality international-scale tournaments like other countries abroad, such as the Singa Cup, JSSL, ANZA Cup, Gothia Cup, or Iber Cup. We want Indonesia to have a big youth tournament that can be a pride for Indonesia in the eyes of the world, and of course, by lifting our icon, the Garuda Cup,” said Runie.

The GIC 2 2022 tournament will be participated in by a total of 32 teams divided into 16 teams in the U-12 category and 16 teams in the U-17 category. Some of the teams participating in the U-12 category include ASIOP, PSIS Development, Persib Academy, Elang Mas Sriwijaya, Best FC Malaysia, AUFC Malaysia, and Next Bali Generation.

Meanwhile, the U-17 category participants include ASIOP, FABD Brunei, SID FC Kelantan Malaysia, ASIFA, Safin Pati, Sulut United, Woodlands Warriors FC Singapore, Central Visayas Philippines, and Timnas Pelajar BLISPI.

“So, this tournament will be participated in by academies that almost represent several big cities in Indonesia, such as Sulut United, PSIS, Persib Academy, ASIFA Malang, and Safin Pati. In terms of competition quality, it is excellent because it will be participated in by representatives from various regions and foreign teams,” said Runie in a press conference for Transtama-GIC 2 at ATG Sentul, on Monday (26/06/2022).

Meanwhile, the Steering Committee (SC) of Transtama-GIC 2, Novema Andryani, hopes that the GIC 2 tournament can rekindle the energy and passion of Indonesian football after almost three years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The hope is that the Transtama-Garuda International Cup 2 can reignite the passion for Indonesian football. Moreover, we also have an interesting tagline for Transtama-GIC 2, which is ‘The Season Is Coming, Lets Have Fun.’ This means that it’s time for us to rise. Indonesian football must become passionate again, and we are all ready to return to normal,” said Novema Andryani.

“The Transtama-GIC 2 tournament can certainly be carried out thanks to the support of sponsors, one of which is Transtama Logistics as the main sponsor of this event. Vema, or Novema as she’s familiarly called, is also confident that this tournament will become more attractive because the Transtama-GIC 2 committee will package it by combining sports and entertainment elements.

“This Transtama-GIC 2 tournament is becoming more attractive because we are packaging it by combining sports and entertainment elements. So, there will be many interesting games to play at the venue. In addition, visitors will also be entertained with performances by bands and DJs, as well as a bazaar. Additionally, at the same time, we will also hold a dance competition involving several high schools from the Jabodetabek area,” said Vema.”