Jakarta. The National Olympic Committee (NOC) said Monday that they were looking for foreign-born talents to play for Indonesia in other sports besides football as it will increase Jakarta’s chances at winning gold at the international multi-sport event.

Foreign-born players are currently dominating Indonesia’s national football team. The football-loving country is also eyeing to recruit more foreigners to go through the so-called process of “naturalization”, which will grant them Indonesian citizenship and thus enabling them to play for Southeast Asia’s largest economy. These naturalized athletes so far are of Indonesian descent in some ways. As a case in point, the grandmother of the Dutch-born Maarten Paes -- the goalkeeper for the Indonesian national football team -- came from Kediri, East Java. 

According to NOC’s chairman Raja Sapta Oktohari, other sports also need to recruit foreign-born talents.

“I will look for these naturalized talents. I want them [to play for Indonesia]. I’m never against naturalization,” Oktohari told the press in Jakarta on Monday, saying that the foreign-born players can help Indonesia secure a victory. 

“Please tell me if anyone has information on potential naturalized players, and this applies to all sports. We need [the foreign-born talents] to motivate us. It is not that we [Indonesia] lack the skills, but we need such boosters,” Oktohari said.

Erick Thohir -- the chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) -- recently revealed that the Netherlands-born FC Copenhagen player Kevin Diks would soon play for the national team. He also uploaded a photo of him shaking hands with Diks on social media. 

“Just had lunch with an FC Copenhagen player who has Indonesian blood, and of course, we didn’t forget to shake hands. Congrats on joining the Indonesian national team, Kevin Diks,” Erick wrote on his personal social media over the weekend.

Indonesia won 2 gold medals and 1 bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Speed climber Veddriq Leonardo and weightlifter Rizki Juniansyah were the Indonesian gold medalists this year. Women’s singles badminton player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung brought home a bronze medal.

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