Liga 3 (Indonesia)

Liga 3
Organising bodyPSSI (2014–2023)
PT Liga Indonesia Baru (2024–onwards)
Founded2014; 10 years ago (2014)
(as Liga Nusantara)
2017; 7 years ago (2017)
(as Liga 3)
CountryIndonesia
ConfederationAFC
Number of teams18 (24 for 2025–26 onwards)
Level on pyramid3
Promotion toLiga 2
Relegation toLiga 4 (planned)
Domestic cup(s)Piala Indonesia
Current championsAdhyaksa Farmel (1st title)
Most championshipsPersatu Tuban
Blitar United
Persik Kediri
Persijap Jepara
Karo United
Adhyaksa Farmel
(1 title each)
TV partnersVidio
WebsiteOfficial website
Current: 2024–25

Liga 3 (English: League Three) is the lowest tier in the Indonesian football league system organized by the PSSI.[1] Formed as Liga Nusantara in 2014, this league occupies the third tier and consists of 2 rounds: provincial qualification—held in every province in Indonesia, and a national round, competed for by provincial qualifiers (the number varies between provinces).[1][2] The PSSI typically delegated the task of organizing the provincial qualifiers to its members, the provincial football associations, while PSSI organized the national round.

History

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The competition was established after Liga Indonesia Second Division and Liga Indonesia Third Division merged in 2014. Starting in 2015, the Liga Indonesia First Division was also merged with Liga Nusantara making it the third-tier level in Indonesian football system.[1] Persatu Tuban won the competition's first season.[3]

In 2017, Liga Nusantara was renamed to Liga 3, along with Indonesian Super League and Indonesian Premier Division which were renamed to Liga 1 and Liga 2, respectively.[4]

Format

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Old format

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The system that will be used in Liga 3 is a full competition with a home-away format. Each participating club is required to compete at least 15 times during the competition season. This is different from previous amateur competitions where the number of matches per club can be uneven. There are those who can compete more than 10, but there are also those who only competed 2 times.

Provincial phase

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Each province will hold a provincial phase, they are followed by amateur clubs without a limit of participants with different competition formats, the difference in the format is due to the different number of participants in each province. Furthermore, the teams that qualify from the provincial phase will compete in national phase.

National phase

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A total of 80 teams will enter this phase.

  • First round: 80 teams are divided into sixteen groups of 5. Each group is played on a home tournament basis. Winner and runner-up of each group advance to the second round.
  • Second round: 32 teams which are the winners and runners-up from each group of the first round. They divided into eight groups of 4 and each winner and runner-up advances to the third round.
  • Third round: 16 teams are divided into two groups. Each group is played on a home tournament basis. Same as previous round, the winner and runner-up of each group advance to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: 8 teams are divided into two groups. The three best teams of each group are promoted to the Liga 2. The winner of each group also advances to the final.
  • Final: The 2 group winners from the fourth round play in the final match. The final played as a single match.

New format

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The new format was announced on 30 September 2024. There will be no provincial or national phase. Instead, there will be three rounds:

  • Regular round: 18 teams being divided into three group of six, with the round being played in home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the promotion play-offs, while the remaining teams will qualify for the relegation play-offs.
  • Relegation play-offs: 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six teams, with matches to be played in home-and-away round-robin matches. The bottom four teams of each group will be relegated to the Liga 4.
  • Promotion play-offs: will be played in home-and-away round-robin matches within a mini-league of six teams, with the top three receiving promotion to the Liga 2 and the winner of the mini-league being crowned as champions.

Teams

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Current participating teams

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Note: According to 2024–25 season.

2024–25
Club
Location Current spell in
Liga 3
Seasons
in Liga 3
Last spell in
Liga 2
757 Kepri Jaya Batam 2019– 4 2017
Kalteng Putra Palangka Raya 2024– 1 2020–2024
NZR Sumbersari Malang 2021– 3
Persekabpas Pasuruan 2017– 6
Perserang Serang 2024– 1 2017–2024
Persiba Balikpapan Balikpapan 2024– 1 2018–2024
Persiba Bantul Bantul 2021– 3 2017
Persikab Bandung 2024– 5 2022–2024
Persipani Paniai 2017– 4
Persipasi Bekasi 2021– 3
PSCS Cilacap 2024– 2 2019–2024
PSDS Deli Serdang 2024– 4 2022–2024
PSGC Ciamis 2021– 3 2019
PSM Madiun Madiun 2019– 4
Sada Sumut Karo 2024– 2 2022–2024
Sulut United Manado 2024– 1 2019–2024
Tornado Pekanbaru 2018– 5
Waanal Brothers Mimika 2023– 2
Recently relegated from Liga 2

Maps

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Locations of non-Java-based 2024–25 Liga 3 teams.
Red: Group 1; Yellow: Group 2; Blue: Group 3
Locations of Java-based 2024–25 Liga 3 teams.
Red: Group 1; Yellow: Group 2; Blue: Group 3

Championship history

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Old format

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Season League name Champions Score Runners-up
2014 Liga Nusantara Persatu Tuban 2–1 Laga
2015 Season abandoned due to FIFA suspension of Indonesia
2017 Liga 3 Blitar United 2–1 Persik Kendal
Season League name Home team Score Away team
2018 Liga 3 Persik Kediri 3–1 PSCS Cilacap
PSCS Cilacap 1–0 Persik Kediri
Persik Kediri won 3–2 on aggregate
Season League name Champions Score Runners-up
2019 Liga 3 Persijap Jepara 3–1 PSKC Cimahi
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
2021–22 Karo United 3–3 (4–2 p) Putra Delta Sidoarjo
2022–23 Season abandoned
2023–24 Adhyaksa Farmel 3–2 (a.e.t.) Persibo Bojonegoro

New format

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Season League name Champions Runners-up
2024–25 Liga 3

Awards

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Best players

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Season Player Club
2014 Indonesia Edi Winarno[5] Persatu Tuban
2017 Indonesia Assanur Rijal Aceh United
2018 Indonesia Galih Akbar Persik Kediri
2019 Indonesia Rizki Hidayat Persijap Jepara
2021–22 Indonesia Rian Ramadan Karo United
2023–24 Indonesia Sehabudin Ahmad Adhyaksa Farmel
2024–25

Top scorers

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Season Top scorer Club Goals
2014 Indonesia Imam Bagus Kurnia Laga 4
2017 Indonesia Arianto Aceh United 7
2018 Indonesia Septian Bagaskara Persik Kediri 21
2019 Indonesia Rikza Syawali PSKC Cimahi 9
2021–22 Indonesia Adam Malik Putra Delta Sidoarjo 11
2023–24 Indonesia Andi Sopian Dejan 9
2024–25

Fair play awards

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Season Club
2018 Persik Kediri
2019 PSKC Cimahi
2021–22 Mataram Utama
2023–24 Dejan
2024–25

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mulai Tahun Ini PSSI akan Gelar Liga Nusantara". tribunnews.com (in Indonesian). 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Liga 3". PSSI - Football Association of Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  3. ^ "Persatu Juarai Piala Nusantara 2014" (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  4. ^ "PSSI Ubah ISL Jadi Liga 1" (in Indonesian). Bola.net. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Luar Biasa! Jatim Kuasai Piala Nusantara 2014" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 15 December 2014.
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