Baihakki Khaizan Gives His Take on Persib’s Current Quality

Singapore football legend Baihakki Khaizan believes the overall quality and standing of teams across Southeast Asia have improved significantly. He considers Persib Bandung one of the clubs that have made notable progress.

Baihakki explained that Persib are one of the teams he continues to follow. However, he admitted that he cannot watch the club on a game-by-game basis and usually keeps up with their progress through short highlights.

“Yeah, Persib are still doing their thing. When we watch the highlights on Instagram or social media, we can see them. But thankfully, Persib have become champions, right? Three times now,” Baihakki said.

The former Tampines Rovers player added that Persib have made significant progress compared to 10–15 years ago. He believes the club’s decision to bring in high-quality players has been positive for both the team and the development of the competition.

“Thankfully for Persib, I think they just keep pushing forward. They want to bring in top players as well, so that’s good for the club and good for football,” added the former Persib player, who featured for the Bandung-based club in the 2010 season.

Baihakki also pointed out that Persib are not the only Southeast Asian club making their mark in Asian football. With continued progress across the region, Southeast Asian football has gradually improved and earned greater recognition from other Asian nations.

“It’s good. I think, overall, if you look at football as a whole, maybe compared to 10–15 years ago, the teams in ASEAN are now, on average, almost at the same level,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the development of several domestic competitions across Southeast Asia has also had a significant impact. In his view, this has made the competitive landscape more intense, particularly when teams from neighboring countries face each other.

“The rankings have started to improve. Whether it’s Persib, teams from Malaysia, or teams from Singapore,” he concluded.