Naturalization of Foreign Football Players Only a Short-Term Need: Sports Minister
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9 November 2022 13:07 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora), Zainudin Amali, emphasized that the step of naturalization or granting citizenship to foreigners to be an Indonesian national football team player is a short-term need. The purpose is solely to accelerate the performance of the national team.
Zainudin does not want naturalization as the only option to increase the national team's performance. The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI), he stated, still had to prioritize the development of young national athletes. According to him, the current Indonesian national team still needs a naturalization program.
"But once again, we still focus on development because our talent is not lacking, the academies at those clubs also carry out development," Said Zainudin in a press release in Jakarta, Tuesday, November 8, 2022. "So we don't rely on naturalization. Naturalization is short-term," He said.
The statement from Zainudin was in response to the naturalization process of a football player from the Netherlands, Shayne Pattynama, who had received approval from Commission X of the People's Representative Council on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Before Shayne, PSSI had proposed two foreign players, namely Jordi Amat and Sandy Walsh, to be approved as Indonesian citizens. Both are waiting to take the oath to become Indonesian citizens.
Furthermore, politicians from Golkar do not deny that naturalization is needed because of urgent interests. One of the interests is the necessity for the Indonesian national team to play on FIFA Matchday and the AFF cup matches to increase Indonesia's ranking.
On the other hand, the Minister of Youth and Sports stated that as an effort to support the development of kids in football, Presiden Joko Widodo in August 2022 established the Papua Football Academy (PFA) in Jayapura. PFA is a school for Papuan youths with an age range of 14-15 years to hone their talents in the field of soccer.
"This is our commitment to PSSI. Even now, as a form of that commitment to development among the youth, PSSI and Menpora are working together to conduct coaching courses for a former national team player which are still taking place in Bali," said Zainudin.
Through those courses, it is hoped that national coaches can have a C certificate. Thus, these potential coaches will have a good reputation and ability to be able to train young children as future players. "Hopefully the results will bring progress to Indonesian football," said Zainudin.
ANTARA | IMAJI LASAHIDO (INTERN)
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