REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - PSSI General Chairman Erick Thohir said that the nationalism of naturalized players defending the Indonesian national team is unquestionable. Erick's statement was in response to the polemics of naturalized players in the Indonesian national team squad.

“They are very Indonesian. Never question their Red and White,” Erick said at the Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Jakarta, Thursday (9/19/2024).

He said that naturalized footballers have a deep sense of love and pride for Indonesia because they are descendants of parents or grandparents of Indonesian citizens.

The change of their citizenship to Indonesia was done at their own discretion. According to Erick, it is these things that make these players always fight wholeheartedly for the Indonesian national team.

The man who is also the Minister of SOE exemplifies the attitude of Mees Hilgers, the central defender of FC Twente in the Dutch Eridivisie League, whose naturalization has already been agreed by the Parliament of the Republic of Indonesia and is waiting for the Presidential Decree from President Joko Widodo.

Erick said he recently saw video footage of Mees Hilgers walking up to a spectator carrying a Red and White flag at a stadium in the Netherlands, taking the flag and then taking a picture of it unfurling it.

The incident took place at Stadion De Grolsch Veste in Enschede, Netherlands, after Mees helped his team FC Twente to defeat visiting team SC Heerenveen 2-0 in the Eredivise on Wednesday (18/9/2024) early in the morning.

“That's nationalism. Mees was the mother of the Manado people. Her mother often came home to Manado to see the foundation for the visually impaired she was building,” Erick said.

And, according to Erick, nationalism should ideally not be lumped together with controversial views. He affirmed that naturalization is one of PSSI's efforts to improve the quality of the national team that is carried out in a continuous and long-term manner.

PSSI, Erick conveys, has always been maximum in finding and preparing the best football talent to advance the national team.

“The name of team building is not only seen from the short-term side or shortcut (short-cut) or quick win (acceleration). Everything has to be continuous,” he said.

The naturalization program for footballers of Indonesian descent who play abroad is increasingly carried out especially when South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong captained the Indonesian national team since the end of 2019.

Throughout Shin's period in the squad nicknamed Garuda, there have been 14 naturalised players to strengthen the national team namely Jordi Amat, Marc Klok, Shayne Pattynama, Sandy Walsh, Rafael Struick, Ivar Jenner, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Justin Hubner, Ragnar Oratmangoen, Thom Haye, Jens Raven, Jay Idzes, Calvin Verdonk and Maarten Paes.

Currently, there are two other players who are in the process of naturalization, namely Eliano Reijnders and Mees Hilgers. Their naturalization was agreed by DPR RI on Thursday and it remains to wait for the issuance of the Presidential Decree (Keppres) from President Joko Widodo, which will be followed by the pronouncement of the oath of allegiance as Indonesian citizens.

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