Jakarta. Indonesia’s parliament has approved the naturalization of four Russian ice hockey players to strengthen its national team, an unusual step for a tropical nation seeking medals in winter sports.

The players --Savelii Mochanov, Evgenii Nurislamov, Artem Bezrukov, and Adel Khabibullin-- will join the Indonesian national ice hockey team under a bilateral cooperation deal signed with Russia in June 2025.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Taufik Hidayat said the partnership aims to boost Indonesia’s chances at the Southeast Asian Games in 2025, 2027, and 2029, as well as in the Ice Hockey World Championship Division IV, where the team hopes to earn promotion to Division III.

The same parliamentary session also approved the naturalization of five football players: Mauro Nils Zijlstra and Miliano Jonathans for the men’s squad, and Isabel Corian Kopp, Isabelle Notet, and Pauline Jeanette van de Pol for the women’s team.

Taufik said the football players are expected to strengthen the depth of the national squads while helping raise the standard of local competition. “They will play an important role in building long-term competitiveness for both the national team and the domestic league,” he said.

Commission XIII Chairman Willy Aditya commended the government’s efforts to ensure the naturalization process met all legal requirements, while Commission X Chairwoman Hetifah Sjaifudian said the decision would be reported to a plenary session for final approval.