Naturalization Of Mees Hilgers And Eliano Reijnders To Help The Indonesian National Team Reach The Top 100 Of FIFA

Eliano Reijnders together with Mees Hilgers are expected to increase the ranking of the Indonesian national team in the FIFA rankings (Instagram/@eliano.r).

JAKARTA - The Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora), Dito Ariotedjo, revealed the reasons for taking quick steps in the naturalization of Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders.

In the long-term projection of Indonesian football, the presence of these two names is expected to help Indonesia break into the top 100 FIFA rankings.

"The athlete empowerment projection study is referred to in the long term (over 5 years), to help penetrate the long-term target by bringing Indonesia's position in the top 100 FIFA ranking," said Dito Ariotedjo during a meeting of Commission III of the DPR RI on Tuesday, September 17.

Mees Hilgers is a young footballer who has international experience by representing the Dutch national team at the U-21 level.

Meanwhile, Eliano Reijnders is a Dutch club player, PEC Zwolle, who is also 23 years old.

The process of submitting the naturalization of the two has been discussed in the working meeting of Commission III and Commission X of the DPR RI and has received approval to be continued.

In order to obtain the status of an Indonesian citizen (WNI), the process continued to the DPR RI Plenary Meeting and then the Ministry of State Secretary to obtain a decree from President Joko Widodo.

Then, the final process is taking the oath with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham).

In addition to helping Indonesia penetrate the top 100 FIFA in long-term projects, the rating increase has also made improvements at the Asian level. Menpora targets Indonesia to enter the top 10 of Asia.

Then, the presence of Mees and Eliano is also good news for the Garuda Squad in the near future.

The naturalization of Mees and Eliano is being accelerated regarding the agenda of the Indonesian national team. Both are expected to join the team in the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification in October 2024 against Bahrain and China.