Jakarta - Three naturalized players, Ole Romeny, Tim Geypens, and Dion Makx officially became Indonesian citizens (WNI) after taking the oath and pledge of loyalty to citizenship led by the Indonesian Minister of Law (Menkum) Supratman Andi Agtas in London, England, Saturday.
Supratman emphasized that naturalization is not just a change in citizenship status, but part of a grand strategy to improve the national team's sporting achievements.
"This momentum is not only about changing citizenship status, but also about great hopes in building Indonesia's progress," said Supratman at the swearing-in ceremony, as confirmed in Jakarta.
The Minister of Law and Human Rights said that the swearing-in and pledge of loyalty of the three naturalized players was a commitment of the Indonesian government to the development of national sports by granting citizenship to three football athletes through the naturalization mechanism.
Naturalization of athletes is regulated in Law Number 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia. It is stated that citizenship is through a mechanism of state interest or for foreigners who have rendered services to the country.
In the naturalization process, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights is also supported by the Citizenship Granting Examiner and Research Team (TP3K) consisting of the Directorate General of General Legal Administration (AHU) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the Ministry of State Secretariat (Kemensetneg), the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora), the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), and related sports organizations.