Pre-Independence Since 1914, Indonesia (then still called the Dutch East Indies) had an amateur national football league called Stedenwedstrijden (
Dutch East Indies city championship). This competition ran in an organized and continuous manner until 1950, organized by the
Nederlandsch-Indische Voetbalbond (NIVB) from 1919–1935, then continued by the
Nederlandsch-Indische Voetbal Unie (NIVU) from 1936–1948, and finally by the
Ikatan Sepak Raga Negara Indonesia Serikat (ISNIS) in 1949–1950. Initially exclusive to the Dutch and other European players, by the late 1920s the competition became more inclusive, allowing participation from Bumiputera (indigenous) and Chinese players, though still limited to the elite. All members of the
Dutch East Indies national football team who played in the
1938 FIFA World Cup came from this league. At the same time, in 1930
PSSI was established as a form of resistance against NIVB’s dominance and organized a parallel competition from 1931 to 1943 specifically for Bumiputera players. This competition later became the precursor of
Perserikatan after independence. Meanwhile, the Chinese community also held their own competition from 1917–1950, organized by the
Comité Kampioenswedstrijden Tiong Hoa (CKTH) since 1927, and then by the
Hwa Nan Voetbalbond (HNVB) from 1930–1950.
Post-independence Perserikatan and Galatama The first national competition organized by PSSI after independence was
Perserikatan in 1951, an amateur league that brought together teams based on regions or cities in Indonesia. Historically, Perserikatan was the successor competition that replaced the Stedenwedstrijden, which had previously been organized by ISNIS (Ikatan Sepak Raga Negara Indonesia Serikat). Perserikatan served as the main platform of Indonesian football until the late 1970s. In 1979–80, a semi-professional league was founded, namely
Galatama (
Premier League), which consisted of only one level of competition (except 1983 and 1990 in which it involved 2 divisions). Therefore, since 1979, both Galatama and Perserikatan were existed and had their own league systems.
1994–2008: Liga Indonesia In 1994,
PSSI merged both competitions into a new competition system, namely the
Liga Indonesia. All clubs from both top level leagues were merged into the
Liga Indonesia Premier Division, the new system's top-flight league. Furthermore, since Galatama did not have lower-level leagues, Liga Indonesia's lower leagues took all clubs from the same level in Perserikatan. PSSI formed
Badan Liga Indonesia to operate the new
Liga Indonesia.
2014–2015: Dualism ended and FIFA sanction In 2014, PSSI divided into four level leagues competition include Super League, Premier Division, First Division and Amateur League/Province League called Liga Nusantara. Started
in 2015 league planned just divided into three level leagues competition include Super League, Premier Division and Liga Nusantara, after first division merged with Liga Nusantara. However, the league season in 2015 was paused at first due to threats of sanctions from
Badan Olahraga Profesional Indonesia (BOPI) and the
Ministry of Youth and Sports on PSSI and PT LI because two ISL clubs,
Arema and
Persebaya, didn't get BOPI recommendations. This got
FIFA's attention who threatened to ban Indonesian football altogether due to external meddling from BOPI and the Ministry in PSSI affairs. After the Ministry outright froze PSSI out from organizing football competitions in Indonesia, FIFA sanctioned PSSI in 30 May 2015 hence the competition was then discontinued. PT Liga Indonesia was then closed by PSSI in 2016. PSSI formed
PT. Liga Indonesia Baru as the new league operator for Liga 1 and Liga 2 while Liga 3 is under PSSI and its local branches.
In 2024, PSSI plans to create a new level, namely the
Liga 4 as the fourth division level that will be operated by PSSI and its local branches. In addition,
PSSI announced that Liga 3 will be renamed to
Liga Nusantara and will be operated by
PT. Liga Indonesia Baru, which also operates Liga 1 and Liga 2.
In 2025,
PT. Liga Indonesia Baru rebranded Liga 1 and Liga 2 as the Super League and the Championship, respectively. Additionally, PT. LIB rebranded itself as the
I-League. ==Competition format==