The last club Iwan Setiawan coached was Sriwijaya FC, a team that once ruled Indonesian football and now fights in the country's second division. He died on September 3, 2026, aged 68.
Setiawan was born in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, and built a career that spanned both sides of the touchline. Official records list him as an association football player and association football coach. He spent decades inside the Indonesian game, first as a player and later as a coach, before landing at Sriwijaya FC, where he worked until his death.
Sriwijaya FC carries weight in Indonesian football history. Based in Palembang, South Sumatra, the club won the Indonesia Super League in the 2007-08 season and lifted the Copa Indonesia three times, in 2007, 2008, and 2010. Those years made Sriwijaya a national force. The club has since dropped into the second tier, the league Indonesia calls the Championship, where Setiawan took charge.
His death came at 68, a number that places his playing days in the 1970s and 1980s, an era when Indonesian football ran on regional pride and hard-tackling defenders. Medan produced a steady line of footballers in those decades, and Setiawan was part of that pipeline. He moved from playing into coaching, a transition that kept him inside the sport long after his legs gave out.
Coaching in Indonesia's lower divisions is a grinding job. Travel is long, budgets are thin, and expectations from fans rarely match the resources available. Setiawan worked in that environment, most recently steering Sriwijaya through the Championship season. The club's supporters, known for their noise and their loyalty, had seen him on the sideline in recent months.
The exact circumstances of his death were not immediately released. No cause was given in the official records that confirmed his passing. What is known is the date, September 3, 2026, and his age, 68.
Indonesian football has a habit of losing its old hands quietly. The national game runs on a small circuit of familiar names, men who played together, coached against each other, and then coached each other's sons. Setiawan belonged to that circuit. His playing career may not have made him a household name beyond the country's borders, but inside Indonesia, he was a known quantity, a figure who showed up, did the work, and stayed.
Sriwijaya FC's situation adds a layer to his death. The club is in a rebuilding phase, trying to climb back toward the top flight it once owned. Setiawan was part of that attempt. His loss leaves the club searching for direction at a moment when stability matters most.
He was 68. He was born in Medan. He played football and he coached it. Those are the facts on record, and they are enough to mark a life spent in service of the Indonesian game.
The tributes, when they come, will likely focus on his longevity in the sport. Few men last that long in football, especially in a country where coaching jobs turn over quickly and patience is short. Setiawan outlasted the cycles. He worked through the Super League era, through the league's rebranding, through Sriwijaya's rise and fall, and he was still working when the end came.
His last season with Sriwijaya will now stand as his final act. The Championship club will have to find a new coach, and the players who trained under him will carry the memory of his methods into the rest of the campaign.
Setiawan's death leaves a gap in a specific corner of Indonesian football, the corner where old players become coaches and keep the game alive for the next generation. He occupied that space for years. On September 3, 2026, he left it.
According to Dead-People.