Three Naturalized Players Have Opportunities For Indonesian Strengthening In The 2023 U-20 World Cup

Ivar Jenner, the naturalized player for the Indonesian national team for the 2023 U-20 World Cup. (Instagram/@ivarjnr)

JAKARTA The Indonesian national team has the opportunity to receive additional ammunition for three naturalized players at the 2023 U-20 World Cup which will take place from May 20 to June 11.

Ivar Jenner, Justin Hubner, and Rafael Struick are the three names in question. PSSI General Chair Mochamad Iriawan said all files as a naturalization requirement are currently in the hands of the Indonesian Ministry of State Secretariat (Kemensetneg).

"Yesterday I was given good news by Hamdan Hamedan about the latest developments in the naturalization process of Ivar Jenner, Justin Hubner, and Rafael Struick. Alhamdulillah, the three documents are now at the Ministry of State Secretary of the Republic of Indonesia," Iriawan wrote in a recent upload on Instagram.

According to the naturalization flow, the files of the three names will be reviewed by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). Their files were then returned to the Ministry of State Affairs before being submitted to the Indonesian Parliament.

The peak of their naturalization for Indonesian citizenship is that the Presidential Decree is followed by an oath at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenkumham).

"Thus, the naturalization process is only a short time away. We pray that everything goes smoothly. Honestly, I and I, as well as Indonesian football lovers, can't wait to see them play for Garuda Nusantara at the U-20 World Cup," continued Iriawan.

Indonesia will host the 2023 U-20 World Cup for the first time. The competition will take place in six stadiums spread across Indonesia, namely Jalak Harupat (Bandung), I Wayan Dipta (Bali), Gelora Sriwijaya (Palembang), Manahan (Surakarta), Gelora Bung Karno (Jakarta), and Gelora Bung Tomo (Surabaya).

So far, 15 teams have confirmed themselves to qualify for the event, including Indonesia, which automatically gets tickets for the final round because it is the host status.

The other 14 countries that are certain to compete in Indonesia are Italy, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, the United States, Colombia, Uruguay, Fiji, New Zealand, Brazil, Slovakia, Israel, France, and Britain.