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.