President of Indonesian Football Federation concerned as Vietnam pushes to naturalize players

TPO - Vietnam's adjustment of the Nationality Law (effective from July 1) is receiving reactions from Indonesia. The President of the country's Football Federation, Erick Thohir, expressed his concern that the Vietnam National Team will naturalize a series of quality players after expanding the conditions for naturalization.

The National Assembly has passed a law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality, reducing conditions for those wishing to acquire or regain Vietnamese nationality. The new Nationality Law also creates more favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese players who wish to return to serve Vietnamese football.

Thanks to these groundbreaking changes, players of Vietnamese origin will be able to play for the national team without being hindered by previous barriers. PSSI President Erick Thohir is very interested in this. He emphasized that this is a breakthrough that Vietnam has achieved. It can even change the power map of Southeast Asian football.

"Yesterday, I saw an announcement that Vietnam will attract overseas Vietnamese communities around the world with changes in the law. This change will take effect from July 1," said the head of Indonesian football.

Will Vietnam also welcome many naturalized players like Indonesia?

We see that there are many Vietnamese people in the US, Australia or other countries. Calling up these players will have a real impact on their national teams. Because those who are living abroad will be attracted to build their football."

With Vietnam and Malaysia pushing their naturalization policies, Indonesia understands that their rapid development by recruiting foreign players is unlikely to last long. Instead, the country must still focus on developing young players.

“I think we will be overtaken again in men’s football and still fall behind in women’s football if we don’t push for youth development,” admitted Erick Thohir. “We have to be serious about short-term and long-term programmes.”

Dang Lai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chu-tich-ldbd-indonesia-lo-ngai-khi-viet-nam-day-manh-nhap-tich-cau-thu-post1755601.tpo