Thailand 'opens the door', naturalized athletes will flood SEA Games 33

With the SEA Games organizing committee applying the "passport only" rule, the 33rd Southeast Asian Games promises to be filled with naturalized stars.

The Philippine football team is made up entirely of naturalized players - Photo: AFP

In recent times, the host country Thailand has repeatedly raised the issue of managing the nationality of athletes participating in the SEA Games in important meetings. And the final decision seems to be to open the door to a naturalization policy.

In a recent interview with Tiebreak Times , Mr. Jose Canlas - head of the Philippine sports delegation - said that at the upcoming SEA Games, an athlete's eligibility to compete will be based solely on their passport.

This is based on the "passport only" rule set by host Thailand at the 33rd SEA Games, opening a turning point for the naturalization of athletes in the regional sports community.

For example, a Filipino-American athlete can easily represent the Philippines in the 33rd SEA Games, as long as he has a Philippine passport. He will still be allowed to compete even while the federation transition is underway.

In general, this regulation helps sports federations speed up the naturalization process for athletes with homeland origin and bloodline.

Countries that stand to benefit from this provision are Indonesia and the Philippines, which have been flooded with naturalized players in recent times. They could rush to add foreign-born stars while completing the procedures to change federations.

The regulation was mentioned by Thairath newspaper after an important meeting of the SEA Games organizing committee on August 20, and has now been confirmed by the Philippine sports delegation.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thai-lan-mo-cua-vdv-nhap-tich-se-tran-ngap-tai-sea-games-33-20250830173200965.htm