Maarten Paes Can Suddenly Appear In The Indonesia Vs Saudi Arabia Match

Maarten Paes officially can defend the Indonesian national team against Saudi Arabia (Instagram/@maartenpaes).

Shocking news came from the Indonesian national team. Naturalized goalkeeper Maarten Paes was reported to be able to defend the Garuda Squad when he appeared in the inaugural match of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Third Round against Saudi Arabia.

This was conveyed by the Indonesian National Team Manager, Sumardji, after the Match Coordination Meeting (MCM) in Jeddah, Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

"Today, MCM's activities for the Saudi Arabia vs Indonesia match have been completed. At the time of MCM it was delivered and ratified that Paes could be played in that match," he said.

"Thank you profusely to Mr. Erick Thohir for the efforts that have been made to make Maarten Paes play as soon as possible," said Sumardji.

Previously, Maarten Paes reportedly could not play against Saudi Arabia because it could not be registered.

The problem is, registration has been closed on August 5, 2024, while Paes has just won a lawsuit at the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS) on August 18, 2024.

However, the FC Dallas goalkeeper is still participating in team training in Saudi Arabia considering that he also needs preparation because he may play against Australia in the second match on September 10, 2024.

"Registration against Saudi Arabia closed on August 5, 2024. Maarten was summoned to Saudi Arabia," Sumardji said on August 23, 2024.

As is known, Maarten Paes had problems with the transfer of federations from the Netherlands (KNVB) to Indonesia (PSSI).

In fact, he officially became an Indonesian citizen in April 2024. FIFA rejected the federation's transfer on the grounds that Paes had defended the Netherlands when he was 21 years old. As a result, PSSI appealed to CAS and finally the request was granted.

The allowing Paes to compete against Saudi Arabia has also become a question mark because Sumardji previously revealed that he had passed the registration limit.

Apart from that, the Indonesian national team will start their journey in the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification against Saudi Arabia at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Friday, September 6, 2024, early morning WIB.