Liga Nusantara (English: Archipelago League), officially known as PNM Liga Nusantara for sponsorship reasons, is the third-tier of the football competition system in Indonesia, organized by Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).[1] The competition started in 2014 after PSSI merged the previous competitions, Liga Indonesia Second Division and Liga Indonesia Third Division. The competition is usually divided into several groups because of factors in terms of geography and number of participants.
| Organising body | PSSI (2014–2024) PT Liga Indonesia Baru (2024–onwards) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 (as Liga Nusantara) 2017 (as Liga 3) 2024 (as Liga Nusantara) |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Confederation | AFC |
| Number of clubs | 16 (24 for 2025–26 onwards) |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Promotion to | Liga 2 |
| Relegation to | Liga 4 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Piala Indonesia |
| Current champions | Adhyaksa Farmel (1st title) |
| Most championships | Persatu Tuban Perseden Denpasar Blitar United Persik Kediri Persijap Jepara Karo United Adhyaksa Farmel (1 title each) |
| TV partners | NTV |
| Website | Official website |
| Current: 2024–25 Liga Nusantara | |
History
editThe 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.[2]
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.[3]
In 2024, Liga 3 was renamed back to the Liga Nusantara, along with the establishment of Liga 4 as fourth-tier level.
Format
editOld format
editThe 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 18 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
editEach 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
editA 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
editThe league format was announced on 7 November 2024. There will be no provincial or national phase. Instead, there will be four rounds:[4]
- Regular round: 16 teams being divided into two group of eight, with the round being played in a centralized format of double round-robin matches. The top three teams of each group will qualify for the championship round, while the remaining teams will qualify for the relegation play-offs.
- Relegation play-offs: 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five teams, with the round will be played in a centralized format of single round-robin matches. The bottom three teams of each group will be relegated to the 2025–26 Liga 4.
- Championship round: 6 teams will be divided into two groups of three teams ,with the round will be played in home-and-away round-robin matches. The group winners will advance to the final and promoted to the 2025–26 Liga 2. The group runners-up will enter to the promotion play-off.
- Promotion play-off & Final: The play-off and final will be played as a single match. If tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winning team. The winner of the play-off match will be promoted to the 2025–26 Liga 2, while the winner of the final match being crowned as champions.
Teams
editMaps
edit
Red: Group 1; 
Blue: Group 2
Red: Group 1; Blue: Group 2Current participating teams
editNote: 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 |
| 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 | – |
| Sumut United | Karo | 2024– | 2 | 2022–2024 |
| Tornado | Pekanbaru | 2018– | 5 | – |
| Waanal Brothers | Mimika | 2023– | 2 | – |
| Recently relegated from Liga 2 |
Championship history
editOld format
editOne-off final
edit| Season | League name | Champions | Score | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Liga Nusantara | Persatu Tuban | 2–1 | Laga |
| 2015 | Season abandoned due to FIFA suspension of Indonesia | |||
| 2016 | ISC Liga Nusantara | Perseden Denpasar | 2–0 | PSN Ngada |
| 2017 | Liga 3 | Blitar United | 2–1 | Persik Kendal |
| 2019 | 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 | |
Two-legged final
edit| 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 | ||||
New format
edit| Season | League name | Champions | Score | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | Liga Nusantara |
Awards
editBest players
editTop scorers
edit| Season | Top scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 |  Imam Bagus Kurnia
|
Laga | 4 |
| 2017 | Arianto
|
Aceh United | 7 |
| 2018 | Septian Bagaskara
|
Persik Kediri | 21 |
| 2019 | Rikza Syawali
|
PSKC Cimahi | 9 |
| 2021–22 | Adam Malik
|
Putra Delta Sidoarjo | 11 |
| 2023–24 | Andi Sopian
|
Dejan | 9 |
| 2024–25 |
Fair play awards
edit| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Persik Kediri |
| 2019 | PSKC Cimahi |
| 2021–22 | Mataram Utama |
| 2023–24 | Dejan |
| 2024–25 |
Title sponsors
edit| Period | Sponsor(s) | Name | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | No sponsor | Liga Nusantara | – |
| 2017–2024 | Liga 3 | – | |
| 2024–present | PNM | Liga Nusantara |
References
edit- ^ a b "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.
- ^ "Persatu Juarai Piala Nusantara 2014" (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ "PSSI Ubah ISL Jadi Liga 1" (in Indonesian). Bola.net. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017.
- ^ auglandy, Niko (2024-11-09). "Liga 3 Resmi Ganti Nama Jadi Liga Nusantara: Ini Daftar Peserta, Regulasi, dan Jadwal Pertandingannya". Radar Solo (in Indonesian).
- ^ "Luar Biasa! Jatim Kuasai Piala Nusantara 2014" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 15 December 2014.