Menpora Still Waiting For The Application For Naturalization Emil Audero, Joey Pelupessy, And Dean James

JAKARTA - The Minister of Youth and Sports, Dito Ariotedjo, said he was still waiting for the submission of naturalization documents for Emil Audero Mulyadi, Joey Pelupessy, and Dean James from PSSI.

"For the naturalization of the three players (Audero, Pelupessy, and James) we are waiting for submissions from PSSI," said Dito Ariotedjo on Monday, February 24, 2025.

He conveyed this in response to questions related to the naturalization plan of soccer players Audero, Pelupessy, and James to strengthen the Indonesian national team in the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualification.

Previously, Dito explained that in the naturalization of footballers, his party was only waiting for the submission of documents to be followed up with the main principle of strengthening the Indonesian national team.

Therefore, the naturalization of the three players will also be followed up when they have received documents from PSSI.

The naturalization plan had previously been put forward by the General Chairperson of PSSI, Erick Thohir, who targeted the three players to immediately defend Garuda in the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

Erick said he was processing the players' naturalization documents. The plan has also been reported to President Prabowo Subianto and submitted to Menpora Dito Ariotedjo.

If there are no obstacles, he said, naturalization of the three players will be carried out in February 2025.

"Next week, we will process it immediately. We will catch up so we can play in March," he said at the weekend.

The Indonesian national team will travel to Sydney to face Australia on March 20, 2025, before hosting Bahrain on March 25, 2025 in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Patrick Kluivert's team will then play two more matches, namely when they host China on June 5, 2025 and travel to Japanese headquarters on June 10, 2025.